LUCIO VINHAS DE SOUZA is currently an Economist at the Kiel Institute for World Economics (IFW) in Germany. He has worked previously at the United Nations, the European Commission, the ECARES-Free University of Brussels and the Central Bank of Estoni, amongst other places. His main research interest is monetary and fiscal aspects of the Association of Eastern European countries to the EU. - BAS VAN AARLE is a Postdoctoral Researcher of the FWO (Fund for Scientific Research, Flanders) at LICOS, Catholic University of Leuven. He has several publications in the fields of fiscal and monetary policies. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from Tilburg Univeristy in the Netherlands and in also affiliated with the University of Nijimegen and Cesifo.

• List of Tables List of Figures List of Abbreviations List of Contributors Preface Foreword PART I: GENERAL POLICY ISSUES FOR THE ACCESSION COUNTRIES Introduction - Monetary Integration of Central and East European Accession Countries: The Pros and Cons of Speedy versus more Gradual Strategies; P.Backé and C.Wójcik Is Accession to EMU More Justifiable ex post than ex ante ?; J.Fidrmuc Modelling Alternative Paths to EMU for the Accession Countries; L.Vinhas de Souza and E.Ledrut Macroeconomic Adjustment in EU Accession Countries: An Analysis Using a Small Macroeconomic Model; B.van Aarle, J.Plasmans and B.Merlevede Nominal and Real Forex Regimes and EMU Accession; P.van Foreest and C.G.de Vries PART II: COUNTRY-SPECIFIC MONETARY POLICY AND EXCHANGE RATE QUESTIONS IN THE RUN-UP TO MONETARY UNION Slovenia's Monetary and Exchange Rate Framework in the Run-up to ERM II; G.Capriolo and V.Lavrac Monetary Policy in Estonia: The Transmission Mechanism; U.Sepp, M.Randveer and R.Lättemäe Czech Monetary Policy on the Road to European (Monetary) Union; R.Matousek & A.Taci Poland's Accession to EMU - Choosing the Exchange Rate Parity; L.R.Rawdanowicz Monetary and Exchange Rate Strategies in Hungary on the Way to the Euro; A.Csajbók References Index