With the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty, the Member States of the European Community committed themselves to forming a monetary union with a single currency and central bank by around the year 2000. This study starts by looking at the background to EMU and the ambitions of its protagonists. It discusses the economic principles and the empirical evidence for and against EMU, and then examines the detailed Maastricht blueprint. Proposals for improvements are made and an assessment offered of the likelihood and advisability of Europe forming EMU by the end of the century, and whether Britain should join.