The political and socioeconomic reasons for Sweden’s resistance to join the Eurozone.

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
European Studies
Degree name
Master of European Union Studies
Publisher
University of Canterbury
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
English
Date
2019
Authors
Hall, Patrick
Abstract

The Eurozone was established in 1999 as a common currency area between 11 member states (European Commission, 2019). This grew to 15 member states, and now exists as 19 member states who use the euro as their currency (European Commission, 2019). The ECB governs the Eurozone by controlling the monetary policy across all 19 Eurozone member states (European Commission, 2019). Countries within the Eurozone do not have control of their monetary policy but still maintain governance over their fiscal policy. Denmark and the UK are the only countries with formal opt-­out agreements exempting them from Eurozone membership (European Commission, 2019). Sweden does not have such an agreement yet resists Eurozone membership, making it a unique case within the EU. Sweden had a public referendum in 2003 on whether it should join the Eurozone, with Swedes deciding not to (Miles, 2004, p. 155). This thesis uses a mixed method approach of both qualitative and quantitative information to understand the political and socioeconomic reasons for why Sweden resists Eurozone membership.

Description
Citation
Keywords
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
All Rights Reserved