The Challenge of Enlargement of Euroland Paul De Grauwe University of Leuven

The launch of the euro has been an extraordinarily successful operation Yet there are challenges ahead The main challenge comes from the enlargement

Several issues 1. Is a Eurozone of 25 countries an OCA? 2. How will enlargement affect costs and benefits of EMU for the present members? 3. Can an enlarged Eurozone continue to function as it does today?

1.Is a Eurozone of 25 countries an OCA?

The traditional theory Definition of OCA According to traditional theory of OCAs, the optimality of currency areas depends on three variables Openness (integration) Asymmetry of shocks Flexibility

Costs and benefits monetary union: asymmetry and flexibility In OCA-zone: benefits of EMU exceed costs Asymmetry of shocks is compensated by flexibility Outside OCA-zone Reverse holds OCA I asymmetry flexibility OCA-zone

Nature of OCA-zone: benefits of EMU exceed costs countries find the cost of not being able to use their national monetary policies to deal with asymmetric shocks small compared to the benefits of the union. Union central bank is not perceived to neglect national monetary conditions when setting unique interest rate. Monetary policy that fits one size is not perceived to be costly.

Costs and benefits monetary union: asymmetry and openness In OCA-zone: benefits of EMU exceed costs Asymmetry of shocks is compensated by opennes (integration) Outside OCA-zone Reverse holds OCA II asymmetry Openness (integration) OCA-zone

Evidence: Openness

Evidence: Asymmetry of shocks

Central European countries are relatively open to rest of EU More so than the UK Central European countries subject to more asymmetric shocks This is also the case for UK Missing links: Flexibility: we know very little about this

Is EU-25 an OCA? asymmetry and openness EU-25 is likely to be outside OCA-zone There is a large component of uncertainty Endogenous nature of dynamics towards OCA: OCA-criteria could be selffulfilling EU-25 OCA II asymmetry opennes OCA-zone

Complicating factor: Many countries see monetary union as instrument to import monetary stability Cfr. Southern European countries prior to EMU Central European countries today As a result traditional OCA-analysis plays little role in decision to join Once monetary stability is achieved traditional OCA-analysis will reappear with a vengeance

2. Implications of enlargement for present eurozone

Implications of enlargement for present eurozone EU-25 less integrated and more subject to asymmetric shocks than EU-12 original members of Euroland (who are also part of EU-25) have to wait longer to reach OCA-zone Some original members will perceive policies of the ECB to be less receptive to shocks than before the enlargement EU-12 EU-25 OCA divergence openness (integration)

perceived costs of the union will increase relative to the perceived benefits of the single currency. tensions inside the Eurosystem increase when some countries feel that their economic interests are not served well by the ECB.

ECB can do very little about this Nevertheless it is likely to get part of the blame Greater acceptance that the ECB cannot deal with national problems

Intermezzo: Should UK join EMU? Openness: UK relatively little openness Asymmetric shocks are relatively large Flexibility

UK is relatively closed towards EU UK experiences relatively large asymmetric shocks BUT, UK has more labour market flexibility allowing it to better adjust to these shocks Benefits may be higher than costs Cost-benefit calculus for member countries may deteriorate

What is the right euro/pound rate at entry? Pound seems to be overvalued, although this is still uncertain If overvalued, there will be a problem that will have to be solved collectively

3. Enlargement and institutional reform

present system: equal representation of each member country in the Governing Council such a system works satisfactorily today. will it work well when Eurozone has 25 countries?

Present situation: a lot of asymmetric shocks

Asymmetric developments of inflation and output growth create different desires about the interest rate that should apply for Eurozone We can measure these desires by the Taylor rule

Taylor rule r t = a + b  t + cx t r t = nominal interest rate  t = inflation x t = output gap

Present situation: asymmetric distibution of desired interest rates using Taylor Rule (2002) Assumptions: Governors are nationalistic ECB-board cares about Euro-wide interests Conclusion ECB-Board has strategic position despite asymmetries in shocks

Conclusion of previous analysis Today the ECB-Board has strategic position within Governing Council. (Its interest rate proposal is close to median) This is maintained even when distribution of desired interest rates is very different among large and small countries. This decision making process ensures that the interest rate that is decided is the optimal one from the point of view of the Eurozone as a whole.

This is so even if national governors are guided by economic conditions prevailing in their own countries. This decision making model also ensures that large countries’ (France, Germany, Italy) interests are relatively well served, despite the overrepresentation of the small countries in the Governing Council. Consensus is easy to reach and formal voting usually unnecessary

After enlargement: asymmetric distibution of desired interest rates

In enlarged Eurozone the ECB-Board will loose its strategic position. Its interest rate proposals will occasionally be overruled by coalitions of small countries who experience different economic conditions than the average (which is dominated by the large countries). Interest rate decisions will be made on the basis of economic conditions that prevail in a relatively small part of Euroland.

This will lead to grave conflicts within the Eurosystem. Consensus model is likely to break down. The essence of the problem: small countries are over-represented in the Governing Council in enlarged Eurosystem this will have fatal effect that interest rate decisions may not always be made on the basis of the average economic conditions that prevail in the union.

How to solve this problem? The importance of small countries in the Governing Council must be reduced so that the strategic position of the Board can be maintained. Several possible formulas

Possible formulas US Fed formula: all governors participate in deliberations of Governing Council but voting rights are restricted to a limited number of governors (e.g. ten) on a rotating basis. The IMF formula: small countries group together in constituencies and are represented by one governor. The centralisation formula: the decision making is centralised in the Executive Board of the ECB. In this formula there is scope for expanding the size of the Board. ECB-proposal is mix of formula 1 and 2

Conclusion It is unlikely that a Eurozone of 25 members is an OCA today It may become one in the future Many countries want to join so as to achieve monetary stability. This may not be a good motivation. Enlargement is likely to make the Eurozone less attractive for present members Enlargement will require important institutional changes within the Eurozone.