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This paper evaluates the possible consequences of the forthcoming European and Monetary Union on wage behaviour. It will be shown that EMU does not influence wage policy directly, but rather indirectly through its implications on other areas of economic policy, predominantly on monetary policy. Consequently, EMU will put increasing pressure on using wage policy as a flexible adjustment variable, since other adjustment mechanisms shall cease to exist. Six European countries were analysed empirically, which showed that in the past, southern European countries conducted a much more expansive wage policy than northern European countries. However, this competitive disadvantage of the southern countries was more than compensated by exchange rate developments. What will happen when EMU has come into effect? Either fewer devaluation possibilities within EMU will lead to a shift in competitive positions in favour of the northern countries, or a change in wage behaviour will be observed. The descriptive analysis shows that, on the eve of EMU, wage policy has become more moderate. This trend could be accelerated by the arrival of EMU. The econometric analysis provides an argument for this: the stability of exchange rates have been proven to have a dampening effect on wage increases in the past, particularly in southern European countries. Whether the extent of these effects will be sufficient to prevent a shift in relative competitive positions, however, remains to be seen.

Who were key figures in the making of European monetary union? Which ideas did they contribute to ensuring that monetary union would be sustainable? How prescient were they in identifying the necessary and sufficient foundations of a sustainable monetary union? This book provides the first systematic historical examination of key architects of European monetary union in the period before its launch in 1999. Using original archival and interview research, it investigates the intellectual and career backgrounds of these architects, their networking skills, and their own doubts and reservations about the way in which monetary union was being constructed. In the light of the later Euro Area, Architects of the Euro deals critically with not just their contribution to the making of European monetary union but also their legacy. The book brings together a distinguished group of scholars working on the history of Economic and Monetary Union