The Role of the Monetary Committee

Abstract

In the process of capital liberalization in Europe the Monetary Committee of the European Community has played an influential role. The committee, where high-ranking officials regularly meet, provides a unique forum for frank and open policy discussions on issues of common concern and where its members do not immediately bind their countries’ positions. In this committee the policy aspects of liberalization came to the fore in a dialogue between the Commission, as the guardian of the Treaty, and the member states. Both the imposition of exchange controls as well as their abolition having significant implications for other policy areas, the Monetary Committee provided the natural forum for a thorough discussion of these wide-ranging consequences. In order to put these discussions into the proper perspective we will investigate in this chapter the role of the Monetary Committee in its different aspects. We will allow ourselves a few asides which may be useful in throwing some light on this rather uncharted terrain.

I have always felt that the Monetary Committee has made an immense contribution to international cooperation by demonstrating how a small group of people who know each other well can easily break through the barriers of rigid national positions and develop new orientations, which are accepted and welcomed by governments.

Emile van Lennep, 1978