Belgium and the Netherlands in the process of monetary integration in Europe: economic consequences of joining the eurozone

Belgium and the  Netherlands have for many decades been the  engines of  integration processes in  Europe, giving priority to the economic aspects of integration. The  countries played an important role in  the  formation of  the  European Union, which is the  only integration association in  the  world that has managed to  reach the  stage of  Economic and Monetary Union
(EMU). Within the  euro area, supranational institutions conduct a common monetary policy. However, there has been a lot of discussion about the  effectiveness of  the  EMU since its founding — experts criticize the  union for  its inflexible monetary policy. This is especially acute in  times of  crisis, when the  European economies one after another go into a phase of decline and cannot take effective measures due to  the  unification of  monetary policy. Therefore, this topic is particularly relevant during the current coronacrisis. The  article considers the  role of  particular countries, namely Belgium and the Netherlands, in complex and multifaceted integration processes affecting the  interests and functioning of  most states of  the  continent. This determines the scientific novelty of the presented work. The purpose of this article is to study the role of Belgium and the Netherlands in the process of  monetary integration, as well as to  analyze the  economic consequences of  these countries’ accession to  the  euro area. The  main part of  the  work consists of  three sections. In  the  first section, the  author studies the  participation of  the  countries in  monetary integration in  the  1970s–1999: the  approaches of  Belgium and the  Netherlands to this process, their participation in various currency mechanisms (European Currency Snake, the  European Monetary System and others), the  compliance of  Belgium and the Netherlands with the Maastricht criteria before joining the  eurozone. In  the  second
section the author shows how participation in  the  EMU affected the  state of  the  economies of  the  two countries, as well as their economic cooperation with European partners. The  third section analyzes the  impact of  anti-crisis programs of  supranational authorities (during the crisis of 2008–2009, the  European debt crisis, and the  current coronacrisis) on  the  economies of  Belgium and the Netherlands.
In the conclusion the author posits that joining the euro area, in general, has brought positive consequences for  the  economies of  Belgium and the  Netherlands; the  competent policy of  the  ECB contributed to  a relatively successful recovery from economic crises by these countries. However, the  principles of  European solidarity can create certain difficulties for  Belgium and
the Netherlands.

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