On 5 January 1971, Gaston Eyskens, Belgian Prime Minister, sends a personal letter to Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Finance Minister, in which he reaffirms his support for the Werner Plan on the achievement by stages of a European economic and monetary union.

On 6 January 1971, Gaston Thorn, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, sends an extract from a confidential report from the Netherlands Embassy in Paris to Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Finance Minister, concerning France's position on the establishment of an economic and monetary union.

On 27 January 1971, the Luxembourg Embassy in Bonn sends a note to the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry in which it sets out the positions adopted by France and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on economic and monetary union during the Franco-German Summit on 25 and 26 January in Paris.

On 1 February 1971, Willy Brandt, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), sends a personal letter to Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Finance Minister, in which he reaffirms his support for the Werner Plan on the achievement by stages of a European economic and monetary union.

On 4 February 1971, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Banking Federation of the European Economic Community (EEC), Pierre Werner, President of the Government and Finance Minister of Luxembourg, gives an address on the establishment by stages of an economic and monetary union.

On 8 February 1971, Pierre Werner (on the left), Luxembourg Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Minister of State, and Franco-Maria Malfatti (on the right), President of the Commission of the European Communities, attend a session of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council in Brussels.

On 9 February 1971, in Brussels, the Finance Ministers of the Six adopt the third medium-term economic policy programme. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, French Finance Minister and the then President of the Ecofin Council, answers journalists’ questions.

On 9 February 1971, the Finance Ministers of the Six adopt the third medium-term economic policy programme in Brussels.

On 10 February 1971, Karl Schiller, German Minister for Economic Affairs, comments on the planned implementation of an economic and monetary union following the decisions taken the previous day in Brussels at the end of the Ecofin Council of the European Communities.

On 12 February 1971, the German Federal Government welcomes the decisions taken on 9 February by the Council of Ministers of the European Community in Brussels regarding the establishment in stages of an Economic and Monetary Union.

In preparation for his address at the 17th meeting of the Action Committee for the United States of Europe (ACUSE), on 23 and 24 February 1971, on the establishment of European economic and monetary union, Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Finance Minister, receives a letter from Jean Monnet, President of ACUSE, including the draft agenda as well as the draft declaration and resolutions submitted to the Committee.

On 18 March 1971, Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Finance Minister and Minister of State, gives an address in Munich in which he emphasises the need to establish a European economic and monetary union and outlines the prospects for success of such a union.

On 22 March 1971, following the deliberations of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) held on 8 and 9 February 1971, the Council and the representatives of the Member States adopt a resolution on the achievement by stages of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

In a note dated 26 April 1971 on questions concerning European integration, the Belgian Government recommends that the Treaty of Rome be amended by adding the obligation to establish economic and monetary union by the end of the year 1980.

On 29 April 1971, Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Finance Minister, gives an address in Hanover on the establishment of a European economic and monetary union.

On 18 December 1971, the 'Group of Ten' publishes 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 20 December 1971, German newspaper welcomes the agreements concluded at the Smithsonian Institute which, in particular, make provision for the realignment of the currencies of the industrialised countries and the adaptation of the system of currency fluctuation margins.

On 19 January 1972 in a speech to the Bundestag, German Finance Minister, Karl Schiller, lists the main outcomes of the Summit of the Ten in Washington and outlines the Federal Republic of Germany's monetary policy.

On 28 January 1971, at the first World Economic Forum in Davos, Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Minister of State, sets out his vision on the establishment of economic and monetary union as a step towards a political Europe.

On 21 March 1972, the Council and the representatives of the governments of the Member States of the European Communities adopt a resolution on the application of the Resolution of 22 March 1971 on the achievement by stages of economic and monetary union (EMU).

Memorandum dated 21 April 1972 for the Italian Foreign Minister, Aldo Moro, in anticipation of the third preparatory summit meeting of the Heads of State or Government of the European Communities, on the Italian Government’s position with regard to the establishment of an economic and monetary union.

On 19 April 1973, the Commission of the European Communities sends the Council of the European Communities a communication summarising the progress achieved during the first stage of economic and monetary union. The communication sets out the lessons to be drawn from the first stage and sketches the broad lines of an action plan for the second stage.

In 1980, Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Prime Minister, gives a presentation to the Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels entitled From the Werner Plan to the European Monetary System (EMS).

On 6 May 1971, a few days before the German Government’s decision to float the mark, the British economic and financial daily newspaper The Financial Times analyses the reaction of the various countries to the international monetary crisis.

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 German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung describes the meeting of the Finance Ministers of the Six held on 8 and 9 May 1971 in Brussels, and comments on the debates between the ministers to find solutions to the monetary crisis.

On 10 May 1971, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung analyses Germany’s decision to let its national currency fluctuate and comments on the reactions of the various European governments to this decision.

On 10 May 1971, the British daily economic and financial newspaper The Financial Times comments on Germany’s decision to let its national currency fluctuate and expresses concern at the consequences of a worsening of the international monetary crisis.

On 10 May 1971, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro comments on the decisions taken at the meeting of the Finance Ministers of the Six held on 8 and 9 May 1971 in Brussels, and analyses the German Government’s decision to let its national currency fluctuate.

On 18 May 1971, the German daily newspaper Die Welt comments on the main points of the monetary policy pursued by the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and describes the attempts made by Karl Schiller, German Minister for the Economy and Finance, to defend his decision to float the mark.

On 28 May 1971, the German daily newspaper Die Welt comments on the unsuccessful attempts in Europe to put an end to monetary instability.

In June 1971, Raymond Barre, Vice-President of the European Commission with special responsibility for Economic and Financial Affairs, grants an interview to the Swiss monthly economic publication Vision in which he sets out his proposals to eliminate monetary problems in Europe.

On 8 June 1971, the French daily newspaper Le Monde sets out the conclusions of a conference on the international monetary crisis held by the Movement for the Independence of Europe. The article summarises the theories of Jacques Rueff, an expert on monetary questions, Jean-Marcel Jeanneney, former ambassador and minister under General de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou, and Jean Charbonnel, former minister and chairman of the French National Assembly’s Finance Committee, concerning the European currency and the dollar.

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 23 August 1971, the French Embassy in Luxembourg informs its Foreign Ministry of the decisions taken by the Benelux countries concerning the monetary crisis. The cable notes that Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands have decided to maintain a fixed parity between their currencies, to restore the common agricultural market and to authorise intervention by the central banks on the respective markets in Community currencies. The Benelux countries have therefore created a monetary bloc that refuses to follow the dollar.

On 26 August 1971, Jean Monnet, President of the Action Committee for the United States of Europe (ACUSE), sends a letter to Pierre Werner, President of the Government and Finance Minister of Luxembourg and an active member of ACUSE, in which he shares his observations concerning the international monetary crisis.

On 1 September 1971, Jean Monnet, President of the Action Committee for the United States of Europe (ACUSE), sends Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Minister of State and Finance Minister and an active member of ACUSE, a report by Robert Triffin, specialist in monetary matters for ACUSE, on the crisis affecting the dollar and the international monetary system.

On 1 September 1971, Jean Monnet, President of the Action Committee for the United States of Europe (ACUSE), sends Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Minister of State and Finance Minister and an active member of ACUSE, a report by Robert Triffin, specialist in monetary matters for ACUSE, on the crisis affecting the dollar and the international monetary system.

On 10 September 1971, a memorandum from the Commission to the Council of Ministers of the European Communities sets out the measures under consideration by Europe in response to the United States' decision to suspend the dollar's convertibility into gold.

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 30 September 1971, Pierre Werner, Governor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Luxembourg, gives an address at the Annual Meeting of the IMF Governors in Washington.

On 1 October 1971, Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Finance Minister and Minister of State, gives a lecture at the University of Liège in which he outlines the introduction of the first stage of European economic and monetary union and analyses the crisis facing Europe.

In an internal report drafted in Bonn on 12 October 1971, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentions 19 events with an impact on monetary policy that have occurred since May 1971. The report highlights foreign exchange inflows, Community initiatives for action, the floating of the Deutschmark and the Dutch guilder, the conclusions of the Council of Finance Ministers’ meeting on 1–2 July 1971, the US measures of 15 August 1971, the Benelux monetary initiative of 19–20 August 1971, the currency market situation in the Community, the meeting of the EC Council of Ministers on 13 September 1971, the meeting of the ‘group of Ten’ and the IMF, the second phase of US measures on 7 October 1971, the meeting of the OECD working group, the letter from Federal Chancellor Brandt to President Pompidou on 17 October 1971 and Pompidou’s reply, the currency realignment of 3 November 1971, the Versailles Conference of 4 November 1971, the note from the United States on 5 November 1971 concerning non-EFTA states, the German-British bilateral talks on 9 November 1971 and the development of US measures in the US Congress.

On 18 and 19 October 1971, in reaction to the US decision to suspend the dollar’s convertibility into gold, the working party of the Economic Policy Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) submits a report assessing the scale of the adjustment required in the United States’ balance of payments and the implications of this for other countries.

On 19 and 20 October 1971, in reaction to the US decision to suspend the dollar’s convertibility into gold, the ‘Group of Ten’ assesses the problems that need to be addressed in order to put the monetary system back on track.

On 8 November 1971, Maurice Schumann, French Foreign Minister, gives an address during the debates on preparations for a summit meeting of the Heads of State or Government of the European Communities, to be held in 1972. In order to guarantee the success of this meeting, he believes that the Six must first restore their solidarity in the face of the monetary crisis and show their determination to pursue the deepening of the Communities and the development of a European economic and monetary union.

On 18 December 1971, the 'Group of Ten' publishes 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 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 9 March 1972, the French Ambassador to Bonn, Jean Sauvagnargues, sends a telegram to his Foreign Ministry in which he outlines the reactions to the agreement in principle on economic policy, reached at the session of the Council of Ministers on 8 and 9 February in Brussels. This agreement, based on consultation between France and Germany, was secured in extremis by the finance ministers of the Six.

On 28 April 1972, the French Ambassador to Bonn, Jean Sauvagnargues, sends a cable to his Foreign Ministry in which he outlines the prospects for the development of monetary policy within the European Communities.

In a cable dated 1 July 1972, Burin des Roziers, French Permanent Representative to the European Communities, informs his Foreign Ministry about the Council meeting held on 26 June 1972. At this meeting, the Economic and Finance Ministers of the European Communities carried out the second annual examination of economic development and of the coordination of budgetary policies, and discussed the situation created by the floating of the pound sterling.

On 24 October 1972, the French Foreign Ministry receives a note on the final declaration of the conference of Heads of State or Government of the enlarged Communities, held in Paris from 19 to 21 October 1972. The Nine confirm their intention to convert their entire relationship into a European Union before the end of the decade. To this end, they take decisions on economic and monetary union (to be completed by 31 December 1980 at the latest), the monetary cooperation fund and regional policy.