ABSTRACT
The Maastricht Treaty envisaged three stages to economic and monetary union within the European Community, namely, linking the currencies of member states through the Exchange Rate Mechanism; the managed convergence of the economies of member states, bringing them into line on inflation, interest rates and government borrowing (to begin in earnest in 1994); and acceptance of a single currency issued through an independent central bank which would also control interest rates and borrowing. The third stage was set to occur on 1 January 1999 unless an alternative date had been agreed upon by the end of 1996.
