last few years have achieved an enormous task. They have overcome a number of obstacles, and now we are not at the door of Europe, but virtually inside." But not everybody views the Greek accession as positive. The infant euro has had a hard time since its inception, losing almost a quarter of its value against the U.S. dollar because of lack of investor confidence. German bankers and financiers, in particular, have been outspoken in their belief that including in the euro Greece, a country traditionally plagued by economic problems, would send the wrong signal to the markets. It is true that in the past Greece has had high inflation and interest rates, and a public debt reaching 114 percent of gross domestic product. In the last two years, however, Athens has made monumental efforts to get its economic house in order, and the figures speak for themselves. Inflation is down to 5 percent, interest to 9 percent, and public debt is 104 percent of GNP and falling. If Greece can stay on course and improve further in the coming years, there appears no reason to fear that its presence inside the eurozone will further weaken the common currency. Ironically, the biggest psychological impact of Greece's accession may be on a country that is not even inside the eurozone, namely Britain. Britain is a major holdout against the common currency, with opinion polls showing that 60 percent of the tradition-minded British public favor keeping the national currency the pound. In any event, Greek accession to the eurozone is likely to re-awaken debate on joining the euro within the British governmentMacroeconomic stabilityWhile no EU member state experienced comparable restrictions on their civil and property rights, Greece, Portugal and Spain had to change their economic regime through a series of structural reforms where the pressure of qualifying for Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) played a crucial role. The fulfillment of the convergence criteria fo...
