the E in Emu: a Short History of European Commission Proposals (1962-1990)

A “Genuine” Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is, also today, the topic of intense discussions in the European Union. In this paper, we take a step back and have a look at the “Economic” pillar in some of the key official documents in the history of Europe’s EMU process. We focus on the period from 1960 to 1990, from the Rome Treaty to the Maastricht Treaty. We analyse the proposals for an “economic pillar” in six documents: The Commission's Action programme of October 1962, The Barre Memorandum, The Werner Plan, The Marjolin Report, The Macdougall Report and the Commission study One Market, One Money. These studies developed several proposals, aimed at advancing the process of economic and monetary union, paying attention to both the economic and monetary pillar of EMU. At the end of the 1970s a shift occurred from a more activist policy towards a strategy based on medium term stability, market oriented policies and emphasis on measures enforcing the supply side of the economy. This shift was also clearly reflected in the economic thought at the institutions of the European Community. This fitted in with the internal market program and a move towards EMU, but one with a limited economic pillar. With the Euro Area crisis, the focus has shifted again to the economic pillar of EMU. Several of the ideas being discussed now, like a European unemployment insurance scheme, were also part of the earlier proposals.