The Role of Independence in the European System of Central Banks: A Sufficient Condition for a Robust European Monetary Union?

Abstract

The drive to establish an economic and monetary union in the European continent can be traced back in time long before the Delors Report, concluded in 1989, or the Werner Report, published in 1970. The dream of establishing a monetary union dates back to at least 1865 when, at a meeting in Paris, France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland formed what was called the Latin monetary union. Before that, Napoleon Bonaparte believed that Europe was in need of ‘a common law, a common measure and a common currency’.