The European Economic and Monetary Union:

Abstract

While most explanations of institutional change in the European Community concentrate either on the interests of governmental actors (intergovernmental institutionalism) or the interests of supranational and transnational actors (supranational institutionalism) the approach developed in this article tries to integrate the interests of governmental actors as well as domestic actors in one analytical framework. The article argues that both major decisions leading to the formation of the Economic and Monetary Union among the members of the European Community, i.e. the approval of the Delors Report and the approval of the results of the Intergovernmental Conference, can be explained in terms of this approach. In the conclusion, some indications are given that this approach might offer a more substantive explanation for the formation of the Economic and Monetary Union than both inter-governmental institutionalism and supranational institutionalism.