A few months ahead of the Euro's 10th anniversary, this report is unlikely to trigger a debate the EMU should go through, given recent developments, such as the increasingly observed cyclical divergence and prolonged business cycles that EMU is experiencing, and the economic tensions that are coming up e.g.
On Eurozone Watch, we have repeatedly written about possible consequences of divergence in EMU business cycles (and possibly connected debates on EMU exit of single countries) and that at some point this might turn up in higher spreads of government bonds.
A year ago we published our forecast on Eurozone Watch that after years of decline (see here), unit labour costs in Germany would start to be back on a rising trend after the wage bargaining round in 2007.
Eurozone or euro-area is the set of countries of the European Union which have adopted the euro () currency.
There are 12 members in the eurozone: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.
The other three countries of the European Union are not in the Eurozone: Denmark, Sweden, United Kingdom.
Nevertheless, as the Eurozone governments weigh the diplomatic, military, economic, and financial responses to the crisis, their commitment to fiscal prudence and structural reform will certainly be tested.
This is due to Eurozone governments' prominent involvement in the gathering global alliance against terrorism, as well as evidence that some of the perpetrators of the U.S. attacks and their supporters were planning them from bases within the Eurozone.
Eurozone governments' policy flexibility and their credit standing benefit from economic reforms and fiscal austerity pursued during the last decade in the run-up to the launch of EMU.
EU trims eurozone quarterly growth forecasts - EUbusiness - EU law, politics and finance(Site not responding. Last check: )
The commission said it expected the eurozoneeconomy to grow by 0.4-0.8 percent in the first quarter, 0.3-0.8 percent in the second quarter and 0.2-0.8 percent in third quarter.
Despite the commission's gloomier outlook for the eurozone, the growth forecasts would mark an improvement from weak growth in the final quarter of 2005.
Eurostat said the eurozoneeconomy grew 1.8 percent in the last quarter of 2005 from the same period in 2004, revising slightly higher from an earlier estimate of 1.7 percent.
One after one, the eurozone's main workhorses have signalled a return to economic growth and a resurgence in business confidence after suffering the effects of a prolonged global slowdown.
"The eurozoneeconomy has turned the corner on the downturn and is now beating the drum for faster growth ahead," Bear Stearns said in a note to investors this week.
In France, the eurozone's second largest economy, GDP rose by 0.4 percent in the first quarter, after a decline of 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2001.
The failure of eurozone economic growth to respond to structural reforms is baffling, a member of the European Central Bank's governing council has admitted.
In its twice-yearly economic outlook, the Paris-based think-tank said forecasting the eurozoneeconomy was “a highly contingent exercise” because of its “susceptibility to shocks”.
Eurozonegross domestic product rose 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2005 but is thought to have slowed recently, hit by high oil prices and the euro's appreciation against the dollar late last year.
Eurozone ministers upbeat about economic outlook despite risks - EUbusiness - EU law, politics and finance(Site not responding. Last check: )
Eurozone finance ministers, gathered in Luxembourg for a monthly meeting, voiced cautious confidence in the economic outlook despite a German VAT increase, volatile oil prices and rising interest rates.
Germany, which is due to lift its VAT rate from 16 percent to 19 percent next year, has the biggest economy in the eurozone and its firm growth has underpinned a strong recovery in the broader 12-nation bloc.
Eurozone finance ministers are to be joined by counterparts from the 25-nation European Union on Tuesday for a monthly meeting to focus this time of Germany, Britain and Hungary's efforts to bring their public deficits in line with EU rules.
The only growth in the lackluster Eurozoneeconomy in the first half of 2002 came from stronger exports much of which was to the U.S. and that export growth is fading now, with no offsetting increase from the domestic economy in sight.
Eurozone inflation measures have been elevated by the rise in oil prices in 2002, the prevalence of government-administered prices, and the introduction of the physical euro.
Recent readings on key economic indicators show that the Eurozoneeconomy is currently softer than it was prior to previous ECB rate cuts in April 1999 and May 2001.
The 12-nation eurozone, which is struggling to avoid recession, saw its economy grind to a halt in the first quarter of this year as manufacturing output dwindled and consumer spending declined.
Growth in the eurozone'sgross domestic product was flat in the first three months of 2003 from the previous quarter, the EUstatistics office said in a preliminary report Thursday.
Italy, the eurozone's No. 3 economy, saw its GDP contract 0.1 percent in the first quarter -- the weakest performance since the last three months of 2001.
Officials said actual inflation had been held to about two per cent across the eurozone, though EU attitude surveys found the public believed inflation was nearer 5 per cent.
They said many had taken advantage of the euro's arrival to impose "unjustified price increases" on their local customers, who were unlikely to travel hundreds of miles to find a cheaper meal or haircut.
Overall in the eurozone, 53 per cent believe the euro has brought advantages, while 36 per cent believe it has been harmful, according to the survey, conducted by Gallup at the end of last year.
Eurozone dynamic factor model for quarterly GDP growth in EurozoneEurozone, developed by EurozoneEuropean Commission’s Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs, projects GDP growth in Eurozone range of 0.4% to 0.8% for Eurozone third quarter of 2006 and 0.2% to 0.7% for Eurozone fourth quarter.
Eurozone approach assumes macroeconomic time series have two components: a common component corresponding to Eurozone business cycle and an idiosyncratic component that is specific to each time series.
Eurozone time series used in Eurozone current model were selected on Eurozone basis of economic judgement and are assumed to contain information about Eurozone current and/or future economic situation in EurozoneEurozone.
FT.com / Comment & analysis / Columnists - Martin Wolf: Italy's predicament exposes eurozone(Site not responding. Last check: )
Investors apparently consider the debt of the eurozone governments as close to perfect substitutes.
What has happened since entry, as I noted last week ("A more dynamic eurozone is a necessity", May 17 2005), is the precise opposite of what was needed: declining productivity performance, deteriorating competitiveness, faltering growth and weakening fiscal discipline.
If the country fails to rise to the challenge it confronts, a default or even a forced withdrawal from the eurozone is perfectly conceivable.
Slovenia was on Tuesday cleared to join the eurozone next year, in the first stage of a roll-out of the single currency into central and eastern Europe.
He stressed that a country's preparations for eurozone membership should be "sustainable"; some economists believe Italy and Portugal suffered by joining the euro before they were ready.
"All efforts will be made to adopt the euro in Lithuania as soon as the eurozone is prepared for a deeper economic integration with the countries with fast growing, dynamic economies," the Lithuanian government said in a statement.
Analysts said that the trimming of the forecasts was to be expected, and meant that the eurozone'seconomy would still expand by about 2.5% in 2006, its best rate of expansion since 2000.
Even though they played down the effect of the changes to the growth forecasts, analysts said that there were still dangers to the region's economic environment.
Interest rates across the eurozone - the name used to describe the group of countries that use the single Europeancurrency - rose by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.25% last week.
Eurozone inflation reached its highest level in six months in October as higher energy costs helped push up prices more than expected.
But there are signs that price pressure will begin easing next year if the European Central Bank starts lowering interest rates soon in an effort to lift the sluggish economy.
Germany -- the eurozone's biggest economy -- had one of the biggest falls, dropping from 2 percent in September.
Even if the ECB was not worried about inflationary pressures, its own research suggests that the impact on growth of even a 1 percentage point change in the policy-controlled interest rate is small a mere 0.34 per cent change in real gross domestic product in year one.
The ECB has consistently argued that the eurozone's lack of economic dynamism is due to structural, not monetary, factors.
In particular, an effect of EMU in the direction of weakening the incentives for structural reform in the larger member countries would be a cause for concern.
CBS - Dutch economy growing more slowly than eurozone - Web magazine(Site not responding. Last check: )
Economic growth in the eurozone an in the Netherlands
In the first half of this year the growth in the eurozone was 1.7 percent.
No figures on household consumption in the eurozone are available for this period, but in the first quarter the increase in household consumption in the euro area was below 1 percent.
The latest eurozone balance of payments data for December, 2005 showed a seasonally adjusted current-account deficit -- measuring trade in goods and services with the rest of the world, as well as certain financial transfers -- of 5.3 billion, the sixth consecutive month in the red.
Much of this development was due to a deterioration in the eurozone's trade balance, which posted a surplus of just 58.1 billion, down from a surplus of 104.5 billion in the previous year.
This was a combination of both eurozone entities increasing their holdings of foreign equities, as well as foreign parties substantially cutting back their holdings of eurozoneequities.
FT.com / Europe - Eurozone fairness in question as Lithuania denied(Site not responding. Last check: )
Lithuania will be told on Tuesday that its bid to join the eurozone in 2007 has been turned down in a ruling that has raised questions about whether the entry rules are being applied fairly or even make economic sense.
Although Mr Almunia?s officials insist eurozone rules are scrupulously applied, they are sometimes stretched to the limit.
In private, the experiences of Italy and Portugal, two of the eurozone?s poorest performing economies, are often cited as an example of what happens when a country joins the eurozone too early, and surrenders control over its exchange rate.