Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T18:18:00.795Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

From Here to EMU: The Role of the Ecu after Maastricht

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2016

Alfred Steinherr
Alfred Steinherr*
Affiliation:
European Investment Bank, Luxembourg
Get access

Summary

The Maasstricht Treaty on EMU has generally been hailed as “a victory for the Ecu”. This is a misinterpretation. Maastricht is a victory for the EMU. EMU does not require the actual Ecu, and the actual Ecu did not receive a boost from the decision to call the future single currency “Ecu” rather than “Euromark”. Maasstricht has not nailed down the actual Ecu’s future and has left some uncertainties. Finally, it is not certain that the future Ecu will be at least as “hard” as the Deutschemark. The Maastricht Treaty went as far as practically possible in anchoring the Ecu’s stability. But performance will depend on factors outside of the Treaty’s scope.

Résumé

Résumé

Le traité de Maastricht sur l’UEM a souvent été proclamé une « victoire de l’Ecu ». Ceci est une mauvaise interprétation, Maastricht est une victoire de l’UEM. L’Ecu, dans sa version présente, n’est pas requis pour l’UEM. Son développement n’a pas reçu l’impulsion supplémentaire du fait qu’il a été décidé d’appeler la future monnaie unique « Ecu» plutôt qu’« Euromark». Maastricht n’a pas fixée le futur de l’Ecu actuel et n’a pas résolu toutes les incertitudes. Enfin, il n’est pas acquis que le futur Ecu sera au moins aussi solide que le DM. Le traité de Maastricht a été aussi loin qu’il était possible pour ancrer la stabilité de l’Ecu, mais sa performance dépendra de facteurs dépassant le champ d’application du traité.

Keywords

423432423432
Type
Research Article
Information
Recherches Économiques de Louvain/ Louvain Economic Review , Volume 59 , Issue 1-2: Monetary Integration in Europe , 1993 , pp. 177 - 193
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de recherches économiques et sociales 1993 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

With thanks to Thierry Vissol of the Commission of the European Communities for his useful comments, without implicating his responsibility. The views expressed in this paper are strictly personal.

References

Bishop, G. (1991), Eculand – The Thirteenth Member of the EC?, London, Salomon Brothers.Google Scholar
Bishop, G. (1992), EMU – 1995?, London, Salomon Brothers.Google Scholar
Dornbusch, R. and Draghi, M. (eds) (1991), Public Debt Management: Theory and History, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Folkerts-Landau, D. and Garber, P. (1991), Has the Ecu become an independent currency? The determination of the private Ecu/official basket exchange rate, Washington, International Monetary Fund.Google Scholar
Giovannini, A and Spaventa, L., (1991), Fiscal rules in the European Monetary Union: A No-Entry Clause, CEPR discussion paper n° 516Google Scholar
Girard, J. and Steinherr, A. (1989), The Ecu: a Currency Unlike Any Other, EIB Papers.Google Scholar
Gros, D. (1990), The Ecu in the Common Monetary Policy, Ecu Newsletter, April.Google Scholar
Issino, O. (1992) Europäische Währungsunion-Kriterien nicht aufweichen, Handelsblatt, 9, 3.Google Scholar
Lund, T. (1991), Ecu and the basket: reasserting the fundamentals, London, Crédit Suisse First Boston Research.Google Scholar
Mélitz, J. (1991), A Suggested Reformulation of the Theory of Optimal Currency Areas, CEPR discussion paper n° 590.Google Scholar
Steinherr, A. (1988), EMS and the Ecu: Proposals for Developing that Synergy?, in De Grauwe, P. and Peeters, T. (eds), The Ecu and European Monetary Integration, London, Macmillan.Google Scholar
Steinherr, A. (1989), The Stability of the EMS Under Financial Market Integration, European Affairs, Special Issue.Google Scholar
Steinherr, A. (1990), Roles for the Ecu in the process of achieving EMU, Journal of International Securities Markets, Winter.Google Scholar
Steinherr, A. et al. (1989), Ecu basket revisions: market repercussions and reform proposals, Paris, Ecu Banking Association.Google Scholar
Steinherr, A. et al. (1991), The Ecu – to be or not to be a basket – that is the question, Paris, Ecu Banking Association.Google Scholar
Steinherr, A. and Girard, J. (1991), Ecu financial markets: recent evolution and perspectives, in Steinherr, A. and Weiserbs, D., Evolution of the International and Regional Monetary System – Essays in Honour of Robert Triffin, London, Macmillan.Google Scholar