On 9 May 1971, during a television interview, West German Chancellor Willy Brandt explains the reasons behind the German Government’s decision to allow the Deutschmark to float.

On 12 May 1971, in a statement to the French National Assembly, the French Economy and Finance Minister and President-in-Office of the Ecofin Council, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, reveals the measures proposed by France to combat the European monetary crisis.

On 20 July 1971, less than a month before the unilateral decision by the United States to suspend the convertibility of the dollar into gold, the Council of Finance Ministers of the Six debates possibilities for resolving the international monetary crisis. Mario Ferrari Aggradi (left), Italian Treasury Minister, meets Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French Economy and Finance Minister and President-in-Office of the Ecofin Council.

On 15 August 1971, US President, Richard Nixon, passes the death sentence on the Bretton Woods international monetary system, by unilaterally suspending the convertibility of the dollar into gold.

On 17 August 1971, the French daily newspaper Le Monde analyses the repercussions of the unilateral decision taken two days earlier by the US President, Richard Nixon, to suspend the convertibility of the dollar into gold.

On 18 August 1971, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reviews the economic and monetary implications of the decision taken by the United States, three days earlier, to suspend the convertibility of the dollar into gold.

'The hour of the Europeans'. For the German cartoonist Gabor Benedek, American President Richard Nixon's decision to suspend the dollar's convertibility into gold is an incentive for the Member States of the European Communities to plan the introduction of a common monetary policy.

On 10 September 1971, in the light of the US decision to suspend the dollar’s convertibility into gold, Franco Maria Malfatti, President of the Commission of the European Communities, sends a letter to Pierre Werner, President of the Luxembourg Government, in which he calls for a strengthening of the Community and the introduction of a genuine common monetary policy.

On 11 and 12 September 1971, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung asks the German economist, Hans Möller, a supporter of a monetary system based on a fixed exchange rate policy, for his views on the collapse of the Bretton Woods system.

On 14 September 1971, the Council of Ministers of the Six expresses its view on the reform of the international monetary system and calls for a realignment of all parities and for the abolition of the American surcharge.

On 22 September 1971, after the American decision to suspend the gold convertibility of the dollar, Emilio Colombo, President of the Council of Ministers in Italy, agrees with the words of Franco Maria Malfatti, President of the Commission of the European Communities, who wants the Six to make rapid progress on economic and monetary union.

On 25 September 1971, French President, Georges Pompidou, holds a press conference during which he describes the causes of the European monetary crisis and proposes solutions to bring it to an end.

On 25 September 1971, the French daily newspaper Le Monde reviews the impact of the decision taken six weeks earlier by the US President, Richard Nixon, to suspend the convertibility of the dollar in the light of economic policy.

On 27 October 1971, in response to the US decision to suspend the dollar's convertibility to gold, French President Georges Pompidou replies to a letter from Franco Maria Malfatti, President of the Commission of the European Communities, and reaffirms his wish to see the Six adopt a truly Community attitude by putting aside their national differences on monetary policy.

On 2 December 1971, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera analyses the difficult progress of the negotiations being conducted between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the United States with a view to resolving the international economic and monetary problems resulting from the collapse of the Bretton Woods system.

On 18 December 1971, the 'Group of Ten' published a communiqué detailing the main monetary measures approved by the Ministers and the Governors of the Central Banks of the ten countries participating in the General Agreements to Borrow in Washington.

On 19 December 1971, on his return from the 'Group of Ten' summit, French Economy and Finance Minister, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, during an interview with ORTF (French Radio and Television Office), gives his impressions of the outcomes of the Washington meeting.

On 21 December 1971, in an address in the Chamber of the Deputies, Luxembourg Finance Minister Pierre Werner sets out Luxembourg’s position concerning Washington’s recent decisions on international monetary matters.

On 21 December 1971, three days after the 'Group of Ten' meeting in Washington, West German Finance Minister, Karl Schiller, sets out the various monetary measures that the Federal Republic of Germany intends to implement.

On 19 January 1972 in a speech to the Bundestag, West German Finance Minister, Karl Schiller, lists the main outcomes of the ‘Group of Ten’ Summit in Washington and outlines the FRG’s monetary policy.

In this interview, Jacques de Larosière, former Head of Department in the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance, looks back at the end of the international monetary system, devised at Bretton Woods in 1944, following the United States’ decision in 1971 to uncouple the dollar from the value of gold.

In this interview, Jacques de Larosière, former Head of Department at the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance, discusses the principles which guided France's international and European monetary policy in the context of the end of the Bretton Woods system and the decoupling of the value of the dollar and the value of gold.