EMU Accession Issues in Estonia

The debate surrounding EMU enlargement is usually focused on the policy choices prior to EU accession, on Maastricht criteria and ERM-II, and on the existence of an optimum currency area between accession counties and the Euro Area. This paper reviews these issues from Estonia's perspective. Considering the small size of the Estonian economy, its currency-board-based monetary system and its openness towards the European Union, entrance into the EMU is a natural development. Caveats remain, but whether these caveats will be solved by a prolonged stay in ERM-II is a different matter.