On 8 May 1971, the French daily newspaper Le Monde sets out the comments of the European Commission about the plan devised by Karl Schiller, West German Minister for Economic Affairs, to allow the mark to float after it suffered speculative attacks.

On 9 May 1971, the Finance Ministers of the Six — on the left, Karl Schiller (Germany) and Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (France) — discuss the various means of ending the growing monetary instability in Europe.

On 10 May 1971, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera leads with the German decision to allow its national currency to ‘float' and displays anxiety about the consequences of a worsening international monetary crisis.

On 11 May 1971, German Finance Minister, Karl Schiller, defends his Government's decision to allow the German mark to 'float', and justifies the main points of his monetary policy.

In June 1971, the monthly publication 30 jours d’Europe paints a portrait of Karl Schiller, appointed West German Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance one month earlier.

On 11 May 1971, while commenting on the decision, taken the previous day by the German Government, to allow the German mark to ‘float’, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French Economy and Finance Minister and President-in-Office of the Ecofin Council, calls for more concerted monetary cooperation among the Six.

On 17 June 1971, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro harshly criticises the monetary policy of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and simultaneously deplores the attitude of Karl Schiller, West German Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance.

On 19 June 1971, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung outlines the reluctance displayed by European countries towards the proposals put forward by Karl Schiller, West German Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance, with a view to introducing joint floating of the European currencies.

On 11 October 1971, Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Finance Minister, sends a letter to the German Minister for the Economy and Finance, Karl Schiller, in which he calls for a narrowing of the gap between the positions of Germany and France on monetary policy.

On 27 October 1971, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro describes the increasing differences of opinion between France and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with regard to economic and monetary policy.

In November 1971, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera reports on the growing tension between the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and France over measures envisaged to combat the European monetary crisis.

On 13 March 1972, the French weekly newspaper L’Express analyses the decision taken by Karl Schiller and Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, French and German Finance Ministers, to launch European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

On 22 March 1972, the Finance Ministers of the Six ratify the agreement limiting the fluctuation margin for European currencies. From left to right: Emilio Colombo, Italian Finance Minister, Karl Schiller and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

On 10 April 1972, the Basle Agreement is concluded with a view to implementing, as from 24 April, the intervention system of the central banks to limit fluctuation between currencies to a maximum of 2.25 %. This photograph shows the coins of the currencies of the Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC) symbolically placed to represent the European currency snake.

In a statement to the European Parliament on 4 July 1972, Raymond Barre, Vice-President of the European Commission with special responsibility for Economic and Financial Affairs, defends the European currency snake and calls on the Six to exercise increased monetary austerity.

At its session of 4 September 1972, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives of the Dutch Parliament debates questions relating to economic and monetary policy, particularly the impact of the monetary crisis on exchange rates between the European currencies.

Meeting in Paris from 19 to 21 October 1972, the Heads of State or Government of the Communities, newly enlarged to include nine Member States, affirm their intention to transform, before the end of the present decade, the whole complex of their relations into a European Union. They take decisions concerning Economic and Monetary Union, the Monetary Cooperation Fund and regional policy. From left to right: Pierre Werner (Luxembourg Minister of State and President of the Government), Gaston Eyskens (Belgian Prime Minister), Jack Lynch (Irish Prime Minister), Anker Jorgensen (Danish Prime Minister), Willy Brandt (Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany), Barend W. Biesheuvel (Netherlands Prime Minister), Georges Pompidou (President of the French Republic), Edward Heath (British Prime Minister), Giulio Andreotti (Italian Prime Minister) and Sicco Mansholt (President of the Commission of the European Communities).

The Heads of State or Government of the future Nine meet for the first time at the Paris European Summit held from 19 to 21 October 1972. They affirm their intention to transform, before the end of the present decade, the whole complex of their relations into a European Union, and take decisions concerning Economic and Monetary Union, the Monetary Cooperation Fund and regional policy.

In an article for the April 1974 edition of the monthly publication 30 jours d’Europe, the journalist, Patrick Bonazza, sets out how the European currency snake operates and outlines the obstacles that it must overcome.

On 10 July 1978, the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel considers the reasons behind the decision taken by the German Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, to convert the currency snake into a broader-based European Monetary System (EMS).

‘The pound falls'. In June 1972, the Soviet weekly magazine Krokodil takes an ironic view of the considerable depreciation affecting the British currency.

On 1 September 1972, French Finance Minister, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, asks President of the European Commission, Franco Maria Malfatti, to convene urgently the Economic and Financial Policies Coordination Group in order to plan a common European policy to curb inflation.

In this cartoon appearing in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on 23 October 1972, Ironimus illustrates the inflationary threat hovering over the 'Nine Europeans'.

On 5 December 1972, the Council of the European Communities adopted a resolution setting out the action to be taken by the Nine to tackle inflation.

On 14 September 1973, the German Finance Minister, Helmut Schmidt, announces to the Bundestag the Government's policy to overcome the global monetary crisis.

On 14 February 1973, the Council of Ministers of the Nine calls for a reform of the international monetary system following the 10 % devaluation of the US dollar.

In February 1973, the French cartoonist, Plantu, illustrates the decision taken by the US President, Richard Nixon, to devalue the dollar by 10 % and considers the possible consequences for Europe in terms of trade.

On 4 March 1973, the European Commission forwards to the Council a communication in which it sets out the measures to be applied in order to maintain the cohesion of the international monetary system.

On 9 March 1973, at the meeting in Paris between the Finance Ministers of the Nine and the representatives of the Group of Ten, the President of the Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community (EEC) emphasises the need to take concerted action in order to reorganise the international monetary system.

On 10 March 1973, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera criticises the inability of the Nine to present a united front against the international monetary crisis.

On 12 March 1973, the Council of the European Communities lists the measures taken by the Nine in order to cope with the international monetary crisis.

On 16 March 1973, the Finance Ministers and Governors of the Central Banks of the ten countries participating in the General Arrangements to Borrow and the Member States of the European Economic Community publish a joint communiqué concerning the measures to be adopted in order to resolve the international monetary crisis.

In March 1973, in Paris, the Finance Ministers and the Governors of the central banks of the Nine hold discussions with experts from the European Monetary Fund (EMF) and with their American, Japanese, Canadian, Swiss and Swedish counterparts, on possible ways to resolve the international monetary crisis. From left to right: Olivier Wormser, Governor of the Bank of France, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French Finance Minister, and Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, President of the EMF.

On 19 May 1973, Luxembourg Prime Minister, Pierre Werner, emphasises the importance, for Luxembourg, of European monetary union as a tool to combat inflation.

‘The drowning men’. In September 1973, Opland, Dutch cartoonist, depicts the attempts of the Netherlands Government to save the national currency from the storm whipped up by inflation.

On 12 November 1973, at the Atlantic Institute for International Affairs in Paris, Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Minister of State, gives an address on European monetary union, the dollar and international reform.

‘Come on then, jump!’ In 1973, despite the efforts of Helmut Schmidt, Karl Schiller’s successor as Finance Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), inflation continues to undermine the European economies.

On 19 January 1974, the West German Government issues a press communiqué on the withdrawal of the French franc from the European monetary snake.

On 21 January 1974, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comments on France’s decision to withdraw from the European currency snake and considers the economic and monetary crisis currently affecting the countries of Western Europe.

On 22 January 1974, the French daily newspaper Le Monde describes the range of parities between the French franc and the German mark in the European currency snake.

On 23 January 1974, Helmut Schmidt, German Finance Minister, in a speech to the Bundestag, reveals the measures proposed by the German Government to support the European monetary snake.

On 30 January 1974, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comments on France’s decision to withdraw from the European currency snake and expresses anxiety over the repercussions that such a decision may have on the implementation of European economic and monetary union.

On 31 January 1974, the European Commission solemnly calls upon the Heads of State or Government of the Member States of the European Economic Community to foster stronger Community ties and to work together to combat the political and economic crisis affecting the ‘Europe of the Nine'.

In his memoirs, former French President, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, recalls the problems associated with the generalised floatation of the European currencies between 1974 and 1976, and analyses the withdrawal of the French franc from the European currency snake.