100 knih

Životopis

Kenneth Dyson (British, born 1946) is Professor of Politics at Cardiff University. His research focuses on comparison of economic and monetary policies and their development over time, with particular reference to Germany, and latterly European economic and monetary union.

Kevin Featherstone (British, born 19 April 1955) is Professor of Contemporary Greek Studies and of European Politics at the London School of Economics. Besides Greece, his work addresses comparison of political systems and public policy, in particular research on the issue of “Europeanisation” within EU Member States.

Shrnutí

This book tells the story of the negotiation of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in the period from around 1988 to agreement on the Maastricht Treaty in December 1991. It is based on an extensive set of interviews with those involved in the negotiations: some 50 each with individuals from the large Member States – France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom – as well as the EU institutions, plus additional interviews with representatives of the Luxembourgish and Dutch Presidencies which chaired the final negotiations on the Treaty.

Drawing on these interviews, as well as documentary records, the authors show how EMU came back onto the Community agenda (having first been mooted in the late 1960s), to develop a momentum which would lead to a final agreement among all Member States and the euro we know today. Their work aims to expose the different, and shifting, motivations and tactics of each of the leading Member States as well as the European Commission under Jacques Delors, together with the structures and processes each put in place to support their negotiation strategies.

The book sets out the various compromises required of the Member States, and the repeatedly changing negotiating alliances which formed on individual aspects of the deal. The key role played by the national central banks in the development of EMU is underlined, with the result seen in the independent and powerful role of the European Central Bank. This contrasts with other EU negotiations which have tended to be dominated by ministries, including the parallel inter-governmental conference on political union, which also concluded at Maastricht.