Europe Under Stress: Convergence and Divergence in the European Community is the second of two volumes which flow from a Chatham House project on the political implications of economic divergence in the European Community, funded by the Social Science Research Council. This second volume offers an interpretation of the problems that divergence poses for the European Community in a number of key sectors, from the perspective of a political economist.
This book begins with a discussion of the concepts of convergence and divergence followed by an explanation of the methodology adopted in this book. The remaining chapters are organized into two parts. The chapters in Part I examine the attitudes of the major EEC member states to the convergence/divergence issue and what the terms mean for each of them. This part also attempts to relate these positions to the concerns and interests of the countries involved. The chapters in Part II analyze the impact of economic divergence on community policies.

Foreword
Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

1 Introduction

Part One: Member States

2 Economic Stability and the Convergence of Economic Policies

3 Power, National Interests, and Franco-German Convergence

4 Relative Poverty, Convergence of Economic Performance and the Community Budget

Part Two: Community Policies

5 Agri-monetary Issues in the Common Agricultural Policy

6 The Common Commercial Policy

7 Community Energy Policy

8 The European Monetary System

9 The Promotion of Convergence and Financial Prospects for the Community

10 Concluding Remarks

About the Author

Index