The paper reviews the double crisis that affected the euro area in the recent period. The focal point is that the austerity measures that have been undertaken in the area, especially in the peripheral countries hurt by the sovereign debt crisis, have not only caused a deep recession but are likely to lead to stagnation and persistent unemployment. In the first part of the paper, original weaknesses in the construction of the monetary union are examined, the emphasis being placed on nominal convergence criteria without taking into account the need for real convergence. This analysis is corroborated by some econometric investigations based on sigma and beta convergence for different macroeconomic variables, distinguishing between the pre-crisis period, 1999-2007, and the recent 2008-2013 period. The empirical section continues with a discussion of recent macroeconomic trends focusing on