On the 1st of January 1999, 11 countries sat down and worked out the final details with regard to implementing 'Stage 3' of the Euro-Rollout. They also agreed that by 2002, Europe would have a single currency. With the changeover to Euro notes and coins now complete, over 300 million people in the 'Eurozone' are beginning to experience some of the pros, and the cons of EMU.
Theoretically, the concept of EMU can be traced back as far as the Treaty of Rome in 1957. Although the treaty was very vague on issues of monetary policy, it does make reference (in articles 104-109, now 102 to 130) to the establishment of a Monetary Committee, whose task was to "Keep under review the monetary and financial situation." The overall feeling of the committee was at the time however that monetary union was still a relatively undesirable option. Over the years however, this began to change. The advent of the Breton Woods system in the USA promised increased stability through the use of a controlled mechanism of exchange rates. And, by 1969, the EU was beginning to target full monetary union, and this was the centre of debate at the Hague Summit. Progress was very slow however, and it wasn't until 1979 that Chancellor Schmidt of Germany, despite the advice of his own central bank, decided to implement the European Monetary System (EMS) (Gedmin, 1997). The idea behind EMS was to have fixed, but periodically adjustable exchange rates among EU countries, with narrow margins of adjustment.
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