ABSTRACT
The failure of ECB monetary policy provides unique opportunity for testing whether universal basic income on the EU or EMU level is a realistic option or just an illusion. In principle, UBI could be introduced only by a much larger EU “federal” budget financed by a specific European tax, by participation of “federation” on some of the existing tax bases, and by redistribution of “federal” fiscal revenues. Though ensuing redistribution of GDP would be relatively modest, the introduction of UBI on the European level without an alternative to the tax revenues requirements is illusionary. Helicopter money, recently discussed as a way out of impasse of the ECB monetary policy, provides such an alternative. It is an ideal experimental possibility for the problems on the revenue side of UBI. 

Key words:  monetary policy, ECB, helicopter money, universal basic income