Reshaping Economic and Monetary Union

This work reveals the reasons why the rules of monetary union in Europe were reopened and changed after the Maastricht Treaty, and explains why they might be changed again in the future. Following Maastricht, national governments found themselves pushed into distinctive roles, as promoters, gatekeepers, reformers and defectors, as voter preferences and central bank powers combined in different ways to create clear incentives for politicians. These roles explain the push from certain countries for specific changes to EMU rules, why some countries needed EMU more than others and under what conditions pressure to create an economic government for Europe could succeed or fail.

Shawn W. Donnelly is Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Bremen.

The success and controversy of Economic and Monetary Union * Germany * France * Spain * International negotiations on EMU and the ECB * Conclusions * Statistical appendix