The EMU debt criterion: an interpretation

The convergence criteria specified in the Maastricht Treaty on government deficit and debt, inflation, the exchange rate and the long-term interest rate will play an important, if not decisive, role in determining which countries move on to the third stage of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). T...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: R. BERNDSEN
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Associazione Economia civile 1997-12-01
Series:PSL Quarterly Review
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ojs.uniroma1.it/index.php/PSLQuarterlyReview/article/view/10586/10470
Description
Summary:The convergence criteria specified in the Maastricht Treaty on government deficit and debt, inflation, the exchange rate and the long-term interest rate will play an important, if not decisive, role in determining which countries move on to the third stage of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The aim of this work is to provide a possible interpretation of the EMU debt criterion. The author investigates the government debt criterion which, as Article 104c(2b) of the Treaty shows, has a considerable scope for interpretation. Although this subject has been discussed extensively, relatively little work has been done to develop a clear interpretation of the EMU debt criterion. A flexible approach is adopted in which parts of the relevant Treaty text are characterised using two parameters.
ISSN:2037-3635
2037-3643