The ravages of two world wars and a desire to develop a politically and economically united Europe led to the establishment of the Eurozone in January 1999. The European Monetary Union was a grand experiment that brought 11 European nations under a single currency, the euro. Complexities associated with the implementation of effective fiscal, budgetary and banking coordination left the bloc vulnerable to asymmetries in the productivity and factor markets of its members. This article analyses how adoption of the euro, which prevented nominal exchange rate adjustments, impacted on the competitiveness and real economies of member states, thereby undermining the European Union’s key priority of creating balanced economic growth and productivity.

两次世界大战的蹂躏以及发展一个政治和经济上统一的欧洲的愿望导致了 1999 年 1 月欧元区的成立。欧洲货币联盟是一项伟大的实验，它将 11 个欧洲国家置于单一货币欧元之下。与实施有效的财政、预算和银行协调相关的复杂性使欧盟容易受到其成员国生产力和要素市场不对称的影响。本文分析了阻碍名义汇率调整的欧元的采用如何影响成员国的竞争力和实体经济，从而破坏了欧盟创造平衡经济增长和生产力的关键优先事项。