| dc.description.abstract | Economic and monetary union (EMU) is the most advanced form of international economic
integration. The process of establishing the EMU in the European Union was long-lasting and determined
by the dynamics of the European integration, as well as by political initiatives. The first
attempt to create an EMU, made in early 70., turned out to be a failure, mainly due to insufficient
economic integration of the participating economies. The second attempt at monetary integration, in the form of the European Monetary System (the EMS), was relatively successful, as it formally
remained in existence during twenty years. However, in practice, the system disintegrated a few
years earlier, when it was transformed into a quasi-floating exchange rate regime, following two
serious speculative crisises. The underlying reason was again insufficient convergence of the participating
economies and resulting divergence of monetary policy pursued by member countries.
Together with the establishment of the single European market, came a turning point in the process
of monetary integration, for two reasons. First, a substantial advancement of economic integration
fully revealed the need for a common currency. Second, operating single market started to create
potentially advantageous conditions for future monetary integration. However, it was politics that
influenced most the decision to launch the project of the EMU. The accession to the EMU was made
dependent on the criteria that have little in common with the optimal currency theory. What’s more,
the interpretation of the criteria in the process of evaluation was rather flexible. | pl_PL |
