Entering a monetary union: some macroeconomic effects

Some of the concerns about the European Union Eastern enlargement include the effects that it would have on the economies of the incumbent countries and on the Budget of the Union. However, entering an Economic and Monetary Union is not a free lunch either for the acceding countries. In this paper we analyse how the restructuring process of CEEC's economies that started with the fall of the Berlin Wall and that is made even more urgent by their willingness to acquire the full membership of the European Union, is affected by the respect of the Cophenagen Criteria. We also show that the EU membership can, paradoxically, reduce the speed of transition by introducing constraints in the use of economic policy instruments.