The Long and Winding Road to the ECB: European Monetary Authority in the Prehistory of EMU

Abstract

The ECB has had a relatively short history (discussed in Chapter 6) but its antecedents, the Committee of Governors of the Central Banks of the EEC and the European Monetary Institute (EMI) played an important role in the management and development of European monetary policy from the early days of European monetary cooperation to the move to EMU. The history of European monetary authority is, of course, tightly intertwined with the history of monetary integration. Nonetheless, this chapter will not enter into the details regarding the progress of the discussions and negotiations on monetary integration. Readers should refer to the numerous studies of the move to EMU written by political scientists and historians (including, most notably, Dyson 1994; Ludlow 1982; Tsoukalis 1977) and economists and central bankers (including ECB Executive Board member Padoa-Schioppa 1994, 2000; Grahl 1997; Gros and Thygesen 1992, 1998; Kenen 1995; Steinherr 1994; Ungerer 1997). This chapter focuses on the role of EC/EU central bankers in the development of European monetary cooperation and integration. It also examines the debates since the late 1960s regarding the responsibilities of the central bankers in the context of monetary cooperation and more specifically, the responsibilities and powers of a European monetary authority in the transition period leading to EMU and the design of the ESCB.