24 June 1988

Adoption by the Council of a Directive on the complete liberalisation of capital movements (implementation deadline:  1 July 1990;  derogations for Spain, Greece, Ireland and Portugal until the end of 1992)

          - EC Bulletin, No 6/1988, p. 24
 

27‑28 June 1988

Decision by the Hanover European Council to entrust to an expert committee chaired by the Commission President, Jacques Delors, the task of studying and proposing concrete stages leading towards economic and monetary union

          - EC Bulletin, No 6‑1988, p. 22
 

14 April 1981

European Parliament Resolution on developing monetary integration based on the Franz report:  Parliament indicates the measures that need to be taken in order to achieve economic and monetary union.  It attaches to its resolution a draft statute for a European Central Bank.

          - OJ C 120, 16.5.1989
 

April 1989

Presentation by the expert committee chaired by Mr Jacques Delors of the Report on economic and monetary union in the European Community

          - Committee for the Study of Economic and Monetary Union

            EC Publications Office 1989
        

19 June 1989

Participation of the Spanish peseta in the exchange‑rate mechanism with a 6% fluctuation margin against the central rates of the other EMS currencies 

          - EC Bulletin, No 6‑1989, p. 29
 

19 June 1989

Council Decision to incorporate the Spanish peseta and the Portuguese escudo in the ECU

          - OJ L 189, 4.7.1989
 

26/27 June 1989

The Madrid European Council agrees that the report on economic and monetary union drawn up by the committee chaired by Mr Delors represents a basis for future work and launches the process leading towards that union.  The first stage will begin on 1 July 1990.

          - EC Bulletin, No 6‑1989, p. 11
 

21 September 1989

In accordance with the Council Regulation of 19 June 1989 modifying the value of the unit of account used by the European Monetary Cooperation Fund (EMCF) following the incorporation of the Spanish peseta and the Portuguese escudo in the ECU, the new composition of the ECU enters into force.

          - EC Bulletin, No 9‑1989, p. 15
 

8/9 December 1989

The Strasbourg European Council decides to convene an intergovernmental conference before the end of 1990 to draft the Treaty amendments necessary to achieve EMU.

          - EC Bulletin, No 12‑1989
 

8 January 1990

Agreement of the Central Bank Governors and the Ministers of the Member States on the narrowing of the fluctuation margin of the Italian lira from ± 6% to ± 2.25% and on the 3.7% devaluation of the currency against the other EMS currencies.

          - EC Bulletin, No 1/2‑1990
 

12 March 1990

Council Decision on the attainment of progressive convergence of economic policies and performance during stage one of economic and monetary union (keyword:  multilateral surveillance).  This decision replaces the convergence decision of 14 February 1974.

Council Decision amending the Decision of 8 May 1964 on the Committee of Central Bank Governors of the Member States:  in particular, it extends and reinforces the Committee's task and role.

          - OJ L 78, 24.3.1990
 

1 July 1990

Entry into force of the first stage of EMU involving, in particular, implementation of the decisions on multilateral surveillance (objective of economic convergence) and on strengthening the task and role of the Committee of Central Bank Governors (monetary cooperation);  completion date for the total liberalisation of capital movements for eight Member States;  Spain, Greece, Ireland and Portugal have derogations until the end of 1992 or 1995.

          - EC Bulletin, No 6‑1990
 

14/15 December 1990

The Rome European Council takes note of the report by the Committee of Central Bank Governors on the draft statute of the European System of Central Banks and the draft Treaty on EMU submitted by the Commission.

The Intergovernmental Conferences on political union and EMU open in Rome on 15 December 1990.  The two Conferences run in parallel and the results will be submitted for ratification before the end of 1992.

          - EC Bulletin, No 12‑1990, p. 11
 

4 March 1991

The Council adopts a decision (91/136/EEC) on a Community loan in favour of Greece.  The loan of ECU 2.2 billion will be paid out in three instalments.  The average duration of each instalment will not exceed six years. The loan is granted under the single facility  providing medium-term financial assistance for Member States' balances of payments and on condition that the country implements an economic recovery programme.

          - OJ L 66, 13.3.1991
 

9/10 December 1991

The Maastricht European Council adopts decisions on economic and monetary union (EMU) and the European Union involving the second revision of the existing Community Treaties with the special objective as regards EMU of setting up an independent European Central Bank that will issue a single currency, the ECU, and the new decision‑making processes at Community level in the fields of economic policy (guidelines, framework decisions) and budgetary policy (budgetary discipline).

The second stage of EMU, which will begin on 1 January 1994, provides for the establishment of a European Monetary Institute (EMI) responsible for strengthening monetary policy coordination with a view to ensuring price stability, making the necessary preparations for the introduction of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and monitoring the development of the ECU.  In order to move to the third stage, viz. the irrevocable fixing of exchange rates between the national currencies and the ECU and their subsequent replacement, very strict economic convergence criteria (price stability, public finances, participation in the EMS exchange‑rate mechanism, long‑term interest rates) must be met by the participating countries.

If a majority of the member countries satisfy those criteria, the European Council will decide by qualified majority to embark on the third stage;  if the date for the beginning of the third stage has not been set by the end of 1997, the third stage will begin on 1 January 1999 and will include those Member States that satisfy the conditions necessary for adopting a single currency.

          - Press release