Convergence is important in a monetary union as countries can no longer devalue. The relevance of European devaluations prior to the emergence of the EA in 1999 is underlined by the fact that the Italian Lira devalued 13 times between 1979 and 1992 and was overvalued when it entered the EA. The restrictions of EMU create the necessity for countries to upgrade their external competitiveness through productivity, labour mobility or internal devaluation by means of reduced wage growth.8 Labour mobility in the EA has remained lower than that in the US9 and the hoped-for increase in internal EU trade turned out differently due to the fact that these trade-flows were already extensive and that the upswing in globalization diverted the growth of trade.10 Moreover, given the limited extent of risk sharing and the apparent return of shocks in a multipolar and economically more unstable world, national adaptations within the EA are indispensable given the limited fiscal space some member states have left TAKE THE CRITERIA - INFLATION ETC, CHECK CONVERGENCE OF INDIVIDUAL FACTORS THEN COMPARE REAL AND NOMINAL CONVERGENCE