The Euro - Should Britain join the European Monetary Union‪?‬

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION OF THE EMU

With the Maastricht Treaty the EC heads of state and government agreed on a three-legged "European Union" (EU) on December 9 and 10, 1991, which should include a common foreign and security policy, cooperation on domestic and security policy and the creation of a European Economic and Monetary Union (EEMU).

The European Monetary Union (EMU) is to be effected according to a concrete time schedule - the three-stage plan which was agreed upon in the Maastricht Treaty and the conversion plan which was decided December 1995.

To ensure the stability of a single currency, especially in the initial phase, the states participating in the EMU must satisfy the following convergence criteria as constituted in the Maastricht treaty:

1. Inflation criteria: Price stability with no more than 1.5 percentage points above the inflation rate of the top three member states.
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