Volume 7 N° 2 (2008)
Special report: EMU@10 - Assessing the first ten years and challenges ahead

At the beginning of May 1998, European Union leaders took the historic decision to move to the Third Stage of Economic and Monetary Union and the launch of the euro on 1 January 1999. Ten years later, EMU is one of the greatest achievements of EU integration with 320 million European citizens from Helsinki to Dublin and from Lisbon to Nicosia sharing the same currency and enjoying its numerous benefits.

To mark this occasion, the European Commission presented a Communication and accompanying report, 'EMU@10: Successes and challenges after 10 years of Economic and Monetary Union', that reviews the experience of the first decade of EMU and looks at its future.

Exceptionally, this issue of the Quarterly Report on the Euro Area (QREA) is entirely devoted to EMU@10. It provides a three-part summary of the work presented in the above-mentioned Communication and report. Part I of the QREA reviews the achievements and shortcomings of the first ten years of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Part II discusses forthcoming challenges. Part III presents the three-pronged policy agenda that the Commission has put forward to ensure that EMU can function even better in the future.