Europe Government and Money

With notes and coins now used in all twelwe countries that make up the euro area, the euro is now fully fledged currency. Gradually, too, the policy-making machinery is being refined, but awkward questions remain about whether the different strands of macro-economic policy should be co-ordinated. And if some form of co-ordination is desirable, should it be explicit and formal or merely tactic? These question will be central to the policy making process in the euro area as EMU is consolidated. Although there are rules governing fiscal policy, embodied in Stability and Growth Pact, and the European Central bank has explained the rules it tried to follow in setting monetary policy, the policy mix, that combines the two is much vaguer. The advent of EMU has also seen greater willingness by EU member states to develop common approaches to employment policy and structural reforms. The essays in this book are written by policy-makers who have day-to-day responsibilities for key policy areas, practicioners and academics specialising in the analysis of EMU. With notes and coins now used in all twelwe countries that make up the euro area, the euro is now fully fledged currency. Gradually, too, the policy-making machinery is being refined, but awkward questions remain about whether the different strands of macroeconomic policy should be co-ordinated. And if some form of co-ordination is desirable, should it be explicit and formal or merely tactic? These question will be central to the policy making process in the euro area as EMU is consolidated