ABSTRACT
The creation of a monetary union inevitably involves the use of a single currency for the payment of taxation and that prices, wages etc. are denominated in that currency. Further, a single currency inevitably involves the creation of a single monetary authority (central bank) with the power to set monetary policy. But there is little else that follows inevitably from the creation of a monetary union. There are, though, a host of economic policy and institutional arrangements which surround the euro and its introduction and which would have profound consequences for the effectiveness of the single currency and, more generally, the economic well being of the European Union. In this brief chapter we indicate some of the features of the institutional and policy arrangements surrounding the implementation of the euro and hint at some alternative ones.
