Since the 1980s, European integration has been accompanied in several countries by transfers of competences from the state to the regions. Convergence processes may also play a role in allowing for an efficient centralisation of policies.
While harmonisation of policies can be harmful if economies diverge too much, citizens or 2/9  BIS central bankers' speeches  governments may agree on a convergence process ensuring that the benefits of a common policy outweigh its costs.11 Without such convergence processes, neither the European Union nor Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) would have been possible.