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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
