Why has inflation in the European Union stopped converging?

The dispersion of European Union inflation rates drifted upward in recent years, after the drive toward the euro pushed it downward sharply in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Inflation accelerated in economies that have either grown faster than their potential output or have failed to liberalize their factor and product markets, generating cost-push pressures and monetary transmission inefficiencies. To the extent inflation performance has been affected by factors outside of the control of the European Central Bank stabilization of inflation around a euro-area target will remain an elusive goal.