The Monetary Committee of the European Community

Abstract

The Monetary Committee of the European Community

The Monetary Committee of the European Community can look back on a history of almost thirty years. It has stimulated international monetary policy in multiple respects on this period of rapid change ranging from the Bretton-Woods regime of fixed rates of exchange via the free float to the European Monetary System, now almost ten years old. Besides the Committee of Central Bank Governors, the Monetary Committee of the European Community has become the Community’s central coordination body. In some cases such as the important issue of central rate changes its task is to push deliberations to the stage of decision-making and to take decisions on behalf of the Ministers, where appropriate. Its monthly meetings out of the spotlight of publicity have become a catalyst of European monetary policy. This explains why – of necessity – rather divergent opinions often clash. However, the strength of this institution precisely is to implement unambiguous rules of a responsible EMS policy in practice without any diluting compromises. A stability-minded EMS policy is a matter of not only the working of mechanisms, but mainly the result of monetary policy-makers’ political willingness and ability to win acceptance for their aims