The Europe in Currency Crisis: Analysis of Macroeconomic Performance of Eurozone Joiners Before & After the Financial Crises of the 2000s

This thesis investigates and compares the development of the EU economies between 1999 and 2020. Also, investigates the impact of the Covid -19 pandemic on GDP, inflation, and unemployment. Eventually, we look in more detail at the debt of southern countries, namely Italy and Greece, for which the euro currency was rather more unfavourable than beneficial. The thesis is based on monitoring the evolution of the following macroeconomic indicators in the period under review: gross domestic product, inflation, unemployment, the balance of payments, national debt, and exchange rate. The first theoretical part of the thesis explains these macroeconomic indicators. The second, practical part, presents the time series of these indicators for the EU, with individual countries divided into three groups according to when their monetary policy became wholly dependent on the ECB. The paper concludes by mentioning some of the drawbacks of EU membership and some policy suggestions for EU member states to increase their benefits from EU membership.