Is EMU a peace project, aimed at reducing conflict in Europe?
There is no such evidence. A common currency is no guarantee of national cohesion or peace. The USSR and Yugoslavia dissolved, despite having common currencies in the rouble and the dinar. There are still conflicts in Chechnya, Kosovo and Bosnia. When Czechslovakia divided, a common currency was kept for some time, but it did not work and two currencies were instituted. In 1999, the year the euro was established, there were 25 wars waging in the world, 24 of them in countries with a common currency. Between 1989 and 1999 there were 108 armed conflicts in the world, 101 of them within States that had a common currency. Three-quarters of these conflicts took place within democratic States or States with democratic forms, like India (Kashmir), Algeria (Islamic guerillas), Morocco (Western Sahara), the UK (Northern Ireland), Spain (The Basque country), Turkey (Kurdistan). 13. Must we join the euro-currency to have a say in running it? Who are the “we” who are going to have an impact on EMU
