ABSTRACT

The European Central Bank (ECB) policy is evolving, and its statute will be changed when there are more than 15 Economic and Monetary union (EMU) members. The basic philosophy underlying the ECB policy seems to be reasonable and pragmatic. Many details and many models lying behind are easily accessible for the interested observer. However, the minutes of the meetings of the Governing Council are not published. It is therefore not clear how the ECB leadership assesses the inflationary risks. In this respect one might see a democratic deficit. Fortunately, European integration has created convergence and not social polarization. The European Union (EU) regional policy has presumably played a positive part. It would be a nice gesture if the rich EU member countries would augment the means for the Structural Funds. For the main architects of EMU, in particular for the French President Franois Mitterand, the monetary union was first and foremost a political project, a part of the Construction Europenne.