Economics and Politics of the Currency Convergence: The Case of Poland
Article title: Economics and Politics of the Currency Convergence: the Case of Poland Article reference: JSSC686 Journal title: Communist and Post-Communist Studies Corresponding author: Dr. Grzegorz W. Kołodko First author: Dr. Grzegorz W. Kołodko Final version published online: 01-Sep-2017 F
Posted: 18 Sep 2017
Date Written: September 1, 2017
Abstract
Of the 11 post-socialist states that have already become European Union members only five have joined the common currency Eurozone. The other six, including Poland, the region’s largest economy, have, pursuant to accession treaties, the right and obligation to adopt euro as their currency. They fail to exercise their right and meet their obligation, which has both causes and consequences. These are economic and political in nature and that is why there is no certainty about how the situation will evolve in future. However, from both of those perspectives, and especially for economic reasons, Eastern European EU members should join the Eurozone, as the resulting benefits, not only for Poland, significantly outweigh the conversion costs. Thus, new countries, especially Poland, adopting euro would have a positive impact on the European integration process, which is experiencing a serious structural, institutional and political crisis.
Keywords: integration; currency convergence; European Union; Eurozone; Poland; economic policy; competitiveness
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