Social efficiency of the Economic and Monetary Union

Abstract

Urgency of the research. Throughout last few years the importance of social factor for the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) have been underlying frequently. Finally, in 2017 European Commission accepted “The European Pillar of Social Rights” to restart the social activity of the monetary union and to tackle its „social deficit‟. Target setting. After creation of the EMU there was a belief that common currency and set of Maastricht convergence criteria would smooth the divergence among its members. However, real social convergence still remains a challenge. Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. Different aspects of the EMU‟s social dimensions were researched by L. Andor, I. Begg, S. Fernandes, R. Niblett, F. Vandenbroucke et al. Uninvestigated parts of general matters defining. Social consequences of the adjustment mechanism in the EMU are still researched insufficiently. The research objective. The paper aims to analyse the social consequences of creation of common currency area in Europe in order to define the priorities for establishing of Social Union or Social Europe. The statement of basic materials. The paper investigates the social consequences of launching the currency union in Europe. The social effect of the EMU is considered in varied aspects: real and nominal convergences; reduction of poverty rate and social exclusion. Different policy approaches toward social development are considered: in the frames of the Eurozone and whole EU. Conclusions. The paper concludes that in spite of some progress in social issues, the EMU doesn‟t prove the beliefs concerning effectiveness of its adjustment mechanism, real income convergence and unemployment reduction