The contributions to this book examine the two main asymmetries of the Euro Area as they have intensified during the second decade of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU): the first between monetary union (more supranational governance) versus -economic- union (less centralised governance); the second between those Euro Area member states of the so-called -core- and those of the -periphery-.
EMU stands as one of the European Union-s (EU) flagship integration achievements. Set up in 1999, with the large majority of EU member states at the time, EMU was described as -asymmetrical- even prior to its start. From the outset, it involved asymmetrical integration in monetary and -economic- union. Although a major element of the blueprint that paved the way for the final stage of EMU, the concept of -economic- union was insufficiently developed. The second decade of the single currency gave rise to a second asymmetry, namely one between those Euro Area member states of the -core-
