Leiden University Student Repository

Mieghem, Roxanne van (2015)

The Maastricht negotiations and the establishment of EMU: The influence of the 1989 German Unification

Master thesis | International Relations (MA)

European monetary integration has come a long way since the establishment of the Rome Treaty in 1957. Subject to this paper is the influence of the German unification on the establishment of EMU. Key-literature on the subject varies a great deal in perspective. Some claim that EMU is the direct result of national political-economic preferences, while others argue that without the prospect of German unification there would have been no such thing as a European monetary union. Most authors seem determined in taking one particular point of view, favoring either national political-economic or geopolitical preferences. On the basis of two hypotheses, a study of key-scientific publications (Moravcsik, 1998; Staal, 1999; Baun, 1995 and Sandholtz, 1993) and a situational analysis involving the EMS period, the EMU negotiation process and the period after Maastricht, this paper discusses the probability if the negotiations on EMU would have reached a deadlock without the prospect of German...Show moreEuropean monetary integration has come a long way since the establishment of the Rome Treaty in 1957. Subject to this paper is the influence of the German unification on the establishment of EMU. Key-literature on the subject varies a great deal in perspective. Some claim that EMU is the direct result of national political-economic preferences, while others argue that without the prospect of German unification there would have been no such thing as a European monetary union. Most authors seem determined in taking one particular point of view, favoring either national political-economic or geopolitical preferences. On the basis of two hypotheses, a study of key-scientific publications (Moravcsik, 1998; Staal, 1999; Baun, 1995 and Sandholtz, 1993) and a situational analysis involving the EMS period, the EMU negotiation process and the period after Maastricht, this paper discusses the probability if the negotiations on EMU would have reached a deadlock without the prospect of German unification or if EMU would have been established also without this prospect, while it was a direct result of Franco-German national political-economic considerations.Show less

Monetary Union

German Unification

Author

Mieghem, Roxanne van

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

European Union Studies

Supervisors

Riel, Bart van

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en