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The European Monetary Institute (1994-98)

In 1992 the Treaty on European Union, also known as the Maastricht Treaty, laid out a road map to a common currency and central bank for the EU. As part of this, the European Monetary Institute (EMI) was established in January 1994 as an intermediate but crucial step towards establishing the ECB. Unlike the Committee of Governors which preceded it, the EMI had its own legal personality and expanded rapidly, both as an organisation and in terms of staff numbers. The EMI’s first President, Alexandre Lamfalussy, was succeeded in July 1997 by Willem Frederik Duisenberg, who went on to become the first President of the ECB in 1998. The President of the EMI chaired the EMI Council, whose members also included the Vice-President of the EMI and the governors of the central banks of EU Member States.

Over the next four and a half years, the EMI quickly established its organisational structure. Major work was carried out in parallel by sub-committees, working groups and underlying task forces of the central banks and the EMI; a cooperative structure that was already established under the Committee of Governors.

The EMI’s main focus was on establishing the European System of Central Banks, including the ECB, and paving the way for the new common currency. It also dealt with some operational tasks, such as replacing the European Monetary Cooperation Fund. The EMI aimed to:

  • better coordinate monetary policy in the EU;
  • enforce financial stability;
  • improve (cross-border) payment systems in the EU;
  • develop a regulatory, organisational and logistical framework;
  • develop a common monetary policy strategy for the euro;
  • prepare a single money market.

The EMI fonds consists of approximately 85 linear metres of textual documents. These mainly relate to meetings, working papers and reports of the EMI Council and the Committee of Alternates, as well as of sub-committees and expert groups on monetary policy, foreign exchange, payment systems, banking supervision, statistics, banknote development and other matters falling within the competence of the EMI. They also include documents connected to relations with European and international institutions and fora. The documents predominantly cover the period from 1994 to 1998 and are mostly in English, French and German.

Browse the content below to find documents that are available.

EMI 1 Status, organisation and administration

The first section includes documentation on the foundation (and liquidation) of the EMI as well as on interdisciplinary activities, such as the financial, staff and building administration, record keeping and auditing.

1993-1998

EMI 1.1 Foundation and constitution

1992-1998

EMI 1.2 Internal organisation

1993-1998

EMI 1.3 Internal finance, budget and control

1994-1998

EMI 1.4 EMI premises

1993-1998

EMI 1.5 Human resources and staff relations

1994-1998

EMI 1.6 Information management

EMI 2 Communications and public relations

The second section covers matters relating to the public relations activities of the EMI, particularly of Presidents Alexandre Lamfalussy and Wim Duisenberg but also of Director General Robert Raymond and certain members of staff. This includes speeches and visits they made as well as visitors they received at the EMI’s headquarters.

1994-1998

EMI 2.1 Speeches and contributions of the President and the Director General

1994-1998

EMI 2.2 Speeches and contributions of staff members

1994-1999

EMI 2.3 EMI publications and related issues

1994-1998

EMI 2.4 Visits and visitors

1994-1998

EMI 2.5 EMI seminars and conferences

1994-1998

EMI 2.6 Contacts to media and public

EMI 3 Organisation and meetings of the executive functions

The third section includes the meeting documentation of the EMI Council and the Committee of Alternates.

1994-1998

EMI 3.1 Organisation and meetings of the EMI Council

1994-1998

EMI 3.2 Organisation and meetings of the Committee of Alternates

EMI 4 Coordination of monetary operations and policies

The fourth section encompasses key activities in preparation for the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the activities of expert groups in the field of monetary policy which had already started during the Committee of Governors period.

1993-1998

EMI 4.1 Stages of monetary integration in the 1990s

1993-1998

EMI 4.2 Framework of policies, instruments and procedures

1993-1998

EMI 4.3 Observations on and operations related to monetary, financial and economic developments

1995-1998

EMI 4.4 Monetary Policy Sub-Committee (MPSC): substructures

1994-1998

EMI 4.5 Monetary Policy Sub-Committee (MPSC): reporting and activities

EMI 5 Foreign exchange and capital movement operations and policies

The fifth section comprises foreign exchange matters and documents of expert fora. Foreign exchange and its harmonisation in view of Stage Three of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) was a key activity of the EMI.

1996-1997

EMI 5.1 Cooperation activities

1995-1998

EMI 5.2 Legal framework of policies and procedures

1994-1998

EMI 5.3 Observations and operations on foreign exchange and capital movements

1993-1998

EMI 5.4 Foreign Exchange Policy Sub-Committee (FXPSC): substructures

1994-1998

EMI 5.5 Foreign Exchange Policy Sub-Committee (FXPSC): reporting and activities

EMI 6 Payment systems and policies

The sixth section covers matters relating to payment systems. The unification of the EU financial markets and the increasing digitisation of the banking sector required closer cooperation among central banks and other authorities at a supranational level.

1994-1998

EMI 6.1 Cooperation activities

1993-1998

EMI 6.2 Legal framework of policies and procedures

1994-1998

EMI 6.3 Working Group on EU payment systems (WGPS): substructures

1993-1998

EMI 6.4 Working Group on EU payment systems (WGPS): reporting and activities

EMI 7 ECU and European Monetary System (EMS) development and operations

The seventh section covers activities that were a continuation of former EMCF operations taken over by the EMI. These operations were conducted in the context of the EMS, which was replaced by the euro in 1999.

1993-1998

EMI 7.1 Cooperation in the EMS

1994-1998

EMI 7.2 Changeover to the euro

EMI 8 Banking supervisory development and policies

The eighth section covers matters relating to banking stability, risks and banking supervision of the EMI and related expert fora.

1991-1992, 1994-1998

EMI 8.1 Banking Supervisory Sub-Committee (BSCC): substructures

1993-1998

EMI 8.2 Banking Supervisory Sub-Committee (BSCC): reporting and activities

EMI 9 Preparation of the European banknote

The ninth section concerns matters relating to the preparation of technical specifications, legal requirements and the design features of the future common banknotes undertaken by the EMI, central banks and, in particular, expert groups. It also covers records of a competition to select the most suitable banknote design.

1994-1998

EMI 9.1 Working Group on Printing and Issuing a European Banknote (BNWG): reporting and activities

1994-1998

EMI 9.2 Working Group on Printing and Issuing a European Banknote (BNWG) substructures

1994-1998

EMI 9.3 Legal questions relating to banknotes

1993-1998

EMI 9.4 Banknote design

1994-1998

EMI 9.5 Technical and production aspects of banknotes

EMI 10 Statistical issues

The tenth section concerns the harmonisation and readjustment of statistical methods required by European economic and monetary unification and the cooperation of EMI/central bank expert groups and other bodies on statistical issues. The EMI also issued series of statistical data.

1994-1998

EMI 10.1 Cooperation activities

1993-1998

EMI 10.2 Framework of policies, methodologies and technical issues

1993-1998

EMI 10.3 Working Group on Statistics (WGS): substructures

1993-1998

EMI 10.4 Working Group on Statistics (WGS): reporting and activities

EMI 11 Monetary income allocation and accounting

The eleventh section concerns accounting methods and monetary income as discussed in central banks, the EMI and, in particular, dedicated expert fora.

1994-1998

EMI 11.1 Working group on Accounting Issues (WGAI): substructures

1994-1998

EMI 11.2 Working group on Accounting Issues (WGAI): organisation, meetings and activities

EMI 12 Information technology and systems

The twelfth section covers efforts to establish IT systems and infrastructure for the EMI and to prepare it for the future common activities.

1993-1997

EMI 12.1 Working Group on Information Systems (WGIS): organisation and meetings

1994-1997

EMI 12.2 System development and implementation

EMI 13 International aspects of monetary policy

The thirteenth section covers European and international relations of the EMI beyond the central banks.

1992-1998

EMI 13.1 European and EU institutional context

1996-1998

EMI 13.2 International context

EMI 14 Legal issues

The fourteenth section covers legal issues related to the EMI and its activities. While legal documents can be found in any section of the EMI fonds, this section covers the activities of legal expert fora and a series of fundamental texts.

1995-1998

EMI 14.1 Working Group of Legal Experts (WGLE) and substructures: organisation and meetings

1994-1998

EMI 14.2 Legal advice and consultations

1995-1997

EMI 14.3 Further activities

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