4 April 1992

Decision by the Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the Member States on the entry of the escudo into the exchange‑rate mechanism of the European Monetary System (EMS)

          - EC Bulletin, No 4‑1992, p. 12
 

13 September 1992

The Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the Member States decide, after consulting the Monetary Committee, to devalue as from 14 September the Italian lira by 7% against all the other EMS currencies participating in the exchange‑rate mechanism (ERM);  officially, this represents a 3.5% devaluation of the Italian lira and a 3.5% revaluation of all the other currencies concerned.

          - Communiqué by the EC Monetary Committee
 

17 September 1992

The Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the Member States, after consulting the Monetary Committee, take note of:

·        the decision of the UK authorities to suspend sterling's participation in the ERM;

·        the decision of the Italian authorities to refrain temporarily from intervening on foreign‑exchange markets in support of the lira;

and decide to revalue the Spanish peseta by 5% with effect from 17 September.

          - Communiqué by the EC Monetary Committee
 

22 November 1992

The Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the Member States decide, after consulting the Monetary Committee, to devalue the Spanish peseta and the Portuguese escudo by 6% against all the other currencies in the exchange‑rate mechanism with effect from 23 November.

          - Communiqué by the EC Monetary Committee
 

11/12 December 1992

With a view to boosting employment and given the inherent threat to the necessary economic convergence of Member States on the road to economic and monetary union, the Edinburgh European Council decides to establish a new, temporary lending facility of ECU 5 billion within the EIB and to give consideration to the establishment of a European Investment Fund with ECU 2 billion of capital.  The main purpose of these two measures is to accelerate and facilitate the financing of infrastructure projects in the fields of the environment and trans‑European networks.

          - Conclusions of the Presidency, Annex 4
 

18 January 1993

The Council approves a loan of ECU 8 billion for Italy under the medium‑term financial assistance mechanism.  The loan should help to overcome the country's balance‑of‑payments difficulties and allow it to carry out its restructuring and economic reform programme.  The loan will be made available in four tranches of ECU 2 billion for an average period of six years on condition that the Italian Government sets in train the necessary budgetary reforms.

          - Bulletin No 1/2‑1993, p. 22
 

30 January 1993

The Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the Member States decide, after consulting the Monetary Committee, to devalue the Irish pound by 10% against all the other currencies in the exchange‑rate mechanism, with effect from 1 February.

          - Communiqué by the EC Monetary Committee
 

14 May 1993

The Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the Member States decide, after consulting the Monetary Committee, to devalue the Spanish peseta by 8% and the Portuguese escudo by 6.5% against all the other currencies in the exchange‑rate mechanism, with effect from 1 February.

          - Communiqué by the EC Monetary Committee
 

2 August 1993

The Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the Member States decide to widen temporarily the intervention margins within the exchange‑rate mechanism to + 15% around the bilateral central rate.

          - EC Bulletin, No 7/8‑1993, p. 22
 

29 October 1993

The European Council decides that:

·        the second stage of economic and monetary union will start on 1 January 1994;

·        the European Monetary Institute (EMI) will be located in Frankfurt/Main (Germany);

·        the first EMI President will be Mr Lamfalussy (Belgium).

          -   EC Bulletin No 10‑1993, p. 8
 

1 November 1993

The European Union comes legally into being (Maastricht Treaty);  in the economic and monetary field, the following major changes are agreed:

·        new procedures for setting the annual economic guidelines for the Union and its Member States as well as in the field of multilateral assistance and excessive budget deficits;

·        rules laid down in the Maastricht Treaty for the second and third stages of EMU take effect;  the composition of the ECU basket is now "frozen" (Art. 109g).

          - EC Bulletin, No 10‑1993
 

22 November 1993

The Economic and Financial Affairs Council adopts:

·        Regulation (EC) No 2605/93 on the procedure to be followed in the case of an excessive budgetary deficit in a Member State; 

·        Council Decision on the statistical data to be used for determining the distribution key for the financial resources of the European Monetary Institute (EMI) (93/716/EEC);

·        Council Decision on the consultation of the EMI by Member States for all draft legislative provisions falling within the EMI's remit (93/717/EC).

          - OJ L 332, 31.12.1993
 

13 December 1993

The Council adopts Regulation (EC) No 3604/93 specifying definitions for the application of the prohibition of privileged access by the public sector to financial institutions (relating to Art. 104a of the EC Treaty) and Regulation (EC) No 3603/93 specifying definitions for the application of the prohibitions referred to in Articles 104 (credit facilities with the central bank) and 104b (liabilities of the public sector and public undertakings).

          - OJ L 332, 31.12.1993