How EU Economic Integration Advances on the Way of Some Important Unions

Abstract

Economic union and monetary union are deeply connected: two dimensions of the third stage of European integration. But achieving monetary union without a complete single market in the field of financial services proved the vulnerability of Eurozone to external shocks and the need to a further economic integration. While banking union has advanced quite fast in the last two years, capital markets union is only a project, also the fiscal union, which is the basic foundation of a true political union. A complete financial union will take a long time to accomplish due to many political, financial and bureaucratic obstacles facing such an ambitious project. Energy Union is another important project meant to remove market fragmentation, to enhance energy security and to reduce environmental impact of energy sector. Finally the political union, the last stage of European integration, the dream of many famous politicians and scholars, will be only possible on the long run as a new type of federation of nation states, provided that all components of economic union will be fully attained.

Keywords

• integration
• union
• single market
• monetary union
• economic governance
• policy
• financial sector
• banking sector
• capital market