Differentiated Integration and Monetary Union in Europe

The objective of the paper is to highlight the correlations between the evolving system of differentiation in Europe and the monetary union as the core of the European Union. So far the monetary integration has been one of the most important elements of the "Europe of different speeds". In the up-coming future it is expected that the fiscal federalism will further evolve and it is going to have serious political externalities and spill-ovens. Consequently this paper will focus on the sources, determinants, mechanisms and anticipated outcomes of the multi-speed Europe of tomorrow. The anticipated scenarios span from the prospects of building some (quasi)federal structures, through various concepts of differentiated integration, up to the visions of disintegration. The author stands behind the argument that the most likely outcome of the current crisis and the future evolutionary trajectory of the European Union will lead towards a system of differentiated integration in which there will be place for deeper (federal-type) integration of some member states, disintegration for some others and in-between solutions for the rest.