Evolution of the EU Economic and Monetary Union

Abstract

The article analyses the evolutionary changes that the EU Economic and Monetary Union is undergoing under the influence of the development of its main economic contradiction. The latter, according to the authors, lies in the use, on the one hand, of a single, centralized economic policy, and on the other hand, in the functioning of relatively independent national financial systems, the power of which is determined by the efficiency of the national economy. In practice, the contradiction lies in the fact that the general economic policy in most of its elements does not take into account the peculiarities of the economic development of individual countries, which makes it financially unprofitable for some of them to participate in a regional association, and stimulates the emergence of disintegration trends. The problem of diverging interests is exacerbated by many factors. One of them is competition, which under the conditions of a common market and the use of a single currency is unlimited. Other factors are related to the shocks that the EU economy is experiencing: financial crises, the COVID-19, the sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia. The evolution of the EMU is taking place as a result of the EU's desire to mitigate the negative impact of this contradiction through the adoption of strategic and emergency measures that alleviate the problem of divergence of interests.