Promises of economic convergence and material prosperity have been reliable companions of the European integration process, also accompanying the creation of economic and monetary union (EMU) and the introduction of the euro. Headline GDP figures support this narrative. During the first decade of the common currency, periphery countries grew faster on average than their peers from the core. This convergence between countries, however, masked differing convergence processes within countries. While periphery countries broadly observed reductions in income inequality levels during this period, core countries experienced increases. Table 1 summarises this trend, displaying average real GDP growth and after-tax Gini figures at the beginning of monetary union in 1999 and at the end of its first decade in 2008, coinciding with the Global Financial Crisis, for selected euro area countries.
