This Selected Issues paper on the euro area was prepared by a staff team of the International Monetary Fund as background documentation for the periodic consultation with the member countries forming the euro area. It is based onthe information available at the time it was completed on June 26, 2014.

In the context ofthe 2014 Article IV consultation with the member countries, the following documents have been released and are included in this package: The Staff Report prepared by a staff team of the IMF for the Executive Board’s consideration on July 9, 2014 following discussions that ended on June 2, 2014 with the officials of the Euro Area on economic developments and policies. Based on information available at the time of these discussions, the staff report was completed on June 25, 2014; A Press Release on the Executive Board’s discussion; A Statement by the Executive Director for the Netherlands.