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SEBASTIANPŁÓCIENNIK
RecoveryoftheEurozoneandaNewDynamic
inEuropeanIntegration:
ImplicationsforMemberStates
outsidetheMonetaryUnion
Thesinglecurrencyisthefactorthatunderpinsthemostimportant
structuraldivisionintheEuropeanUnionatpresent.Itbeganin1999,
whentheeurowasadoptedby11oftheMemberStatesofthetime.Ofthe
remainingfour,theUnitedKingdomandDenmarkweregrantedmonetary
unionopt-outsandSwedenandGreecedidnotthenmeettheconvergence
criteria(thelattercountryfinaliseditsaccessionin2001).
WithsuccessiveEUenlargementstotheeastandsouth,whichbrought
thebloc’smembershipupto28,theeurovs.non-europatternbeganto
change.Allnewentrantscommittedthemselvesinaccessionagreements
tojointhemonetaryunionafterfirstmeetingtherequiredcriteria,and
manyofthemindeedachievedthisgoal,withtheconsequentexpansionof
theeurozoneto19members.ButBulgaria,Croatia,theCzechRepublic,
Hungary,Poland,andRomania,havefailedtofulfilthepledge,andsoafter
2015,whenLithuaniaadoptedthesinglecurrency,thedistinctionbetween
MemberStatesinsideandoutsidetheeurozonebegantosolidify.
Inthisarticle,Iassumethatthedelayinmeetingtheconvergencecriteria
andjoiningtheeurozoneisnotjustareflectionofuncertaintiesaboutthe
economicconsequencesofaccession,oraboutpreferencestomaintain
sovereigntyovereconomicpolicy.Therehavealsobeenother,externalfactors
underpinningargumentsforpostponingmembership.Thesearethetarnished
imageoftheeurozone,mirroringtheeconomicconditionofitsmembers,
thefactthatthegroupofMemberStateswithoutthesinglecurrencywas
relativelylargeandinfluential,andthelowriskofmarginalisationwithin
theEUatatimeofoverallstagnationintheintegrationprocesses.Butthese
ThePolishQuarterlyofInternationalAffairs,2017,no.2
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