The Euro zone has undergone profound institutional changes since the occurrence of its 2010 crisis. The EU countries which, due to different reasons, have not entered to the EMU, must rethink their calculus. Standard economic analysis should be now supplemented with political-institutional dimension. Under these circumstances the article sketches three possible scenarios for Poland, which should be taken into account by decision-makers: (a) fast accession to the euro zone. (b) laggard ‘fence sitting’, and (c) ‘shutting the door’. Each of them raises important economic and politicoinstitutional consequences. The text argues that in overall assessment, the longer the accession to the euro area is delayed, the stronger the risk of Poland’s peripherization in the EU. Therefore the comprehensive analysis of costs and benefi ts under new circumstances should be done fast.
The aim of the article is to show the issue connected with adjustments of the Polish, Hungarian and Czech economies to the euro area in the context of the nominal Maastricht convergence criteria (in the years 2004–2013 and, in some cases, also in the fi rst months of 2014). Takinginto account those criteria and legislation, the analysis shows that, among the above-mentioned countries, it is the Czech Republic that is closest to the euro zone, followed by Poland and Hungary. It is concluded, however, that none of those countries will probably be interested in replacing the national currency with the euro anytime soon.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.