L'Union monétaire européenne : une revue de la littérature théorique

Abstract

European Monetary Union: A Survey This survey considers the broad themes of European Monetary Union: optimal currency areas; a European Central Bank (ECB); and European fiscal policy. Each of these themes is the subject of controversy in the political arena as well as in the theoretical literature. The paper considers different criteria and empirical evidence which compare Europe to existing optimal currency areas. Europe qualifies on some but not all criteria. Another issue is the creation of the ECB. The gain in terms of credibility is not as transparent as for the EMS, because of the proposed structure of the ECB and of the relationship between the monetary and fiscal authorities. Finally, the issue of fiscal policy in Europe is examined. Different arguments both for and againstthe coordination of fiscal policy in Europe are presented, and the subject of fiscal federalism is discussed. Given the issues of national sovereignty and the size of the Community budget, it would be better to operate a reduced federal fiscal system, which would permit individual countries greater autonomy to offset asymmetric shocks.