Economic Performance in Poland under Fixed and Flexible Exchange Rate Regimes

During the last decade, Europe has experienced a remarkable increase in the integration of economic, political and social structures. In the European Union, this process of integration culminated in the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). EMU formally started on 1 January 1999 with the replacement of national currencies by a common currency, the euro, and the replacement of national monetary policy autonomy by a common monetary policy implemented by the European Central Bank (ECB). The introduction of the euro and the so-called Eastern Enlargement of the EU — first outlined in the Treaty of Copenhagen in 1993 and further developed in the EU Council Meeting in Madrid in 1995 and the recent Agenda 2000 — offers economies in transition in Central and Eastern Europe (CEEC countries) the possibility to embark upon a process of integration and convergence that should lead in the end to their accession into the current EU 15.