Entering a Monetary Union: some macroeconomic effects in the Acceding Countries

Some of the concerns about European Union enlargement include the effects that it might have on the economies of the incumbent countries and on the Budget of the Union. Entering an Economic and Monetary Union is not a free lunch for the acceding countries either. In this paper we analyse how the restructuring process of the CEE's economies that started with the fall of the Berlin Wall and that is made even more urgent by their willingness to acquire the full membership of the European Union affect these countries. We also show that EU membership can, paradoxically, reduce the speed of transition by introducing constraints on the use of economic policy instruments