European states and the Euro: Europeanization, variation and convergence

With EMU (economic and monetary union), the European Union has embarked on one of the biggest projects in its history. This book analyses the role of EMU in Europeanization and examines its effects on public policies, political structures, and political discourses. It considers the mechanisms by which EMU produces its effects, and the role of domestic policy‐makers and institutions in shaping national responses. It places the EMU within the context of globalization, and explores its operations within specific sectors. Its main conclusions are that the EMU is most important in affecting the tempo of domestic policy changes, and in strengthening the pressures for convergence. However, while EMU contains a neo‐liberalizing tendency exhibited most clearly in its effects on financial markets, its effects should not be perceived as limited to the Anglo‐American model of market capitalism