Since its inception, the European Monetary System (EMU) has attracted much attention as a structure coordinating political relations.
Disappointed by the global currency outlooksystems with its floating exchange rate the founding fathers of the EMU intended to restore the system of fixed but regulated exchange rates in most of the European Community. Such a system would protect the huge internal European trade flows from abrupt changes in competitiveness. It would also limit the divergence of national inflation rates, allowing for less volatile inflation to be established and leading to a “zone of monetary stability.”
At the same time, the European Monetary Systemit was estimated as an extremely ambitious project, since it returned to the European management the currencies of some countries, primarily France and Italy, which remained alienated from earlier unification attempts.
The system subsequently evolved by stepping overbeyond its original goals: the mechanism of controlling the exchange rate of the European Economic Community (EEC) has become tougher, coherence of monetary policy is more definite, capital mobility is higher than it was in the first years of the EMU.
Everything in the world is interconnected, especially in the field of monetary relations at the global level. Therefore, a few words should be said about the world monetary system as a whole, which has passed through several stages of development:
· Paris Monetary System (1816-1914), based on the gold coin standard.
· Gold bullion standard (1914-1941), which provided for the exchange of paper money for gold bars weighing at least 12.5 kilograms.
Along with gold, over time, US dollars and pounds sterling began to be accepted for international payments.
· In 1922, a conference was held in Genoa,brought together representatives of 34 countries, which discussed aspects of monetarism after the end of the First World War, the strategy of restoring Central and Eastern Europe, and agreements between European capitalist economies and the new Soviet regime.
Then the Genoese monetary system was formulated (1922-1944), the basis of which was the gold exchange standard.
· Beginning with World War IIattempts to maintain stability among major currencies through a fixed rate system called the Bretton Woods Agreement, which collapsed in the early 1970s.
Nevertheless, European leaders were striving for the principle of stable exchange rates, rejecting the floating exchange rate policy popular in the United States.
Большинство стран согласились в 1972 году maintain currency relations. And the monetary system, dubbed the "European currency snake", was supposed to prevent exchange rate fluctuations by more than 2.25 percent.
This was the first attempt to cooperate in the field ofmonetary relations and, in essence, it linked all the currencies of the EEC with each other. Although the regime more or less existed until 1979, it actually began to fall apart in 1973, due to the free fluctuation of the dollar.
The European Monetary System was founded in 1979year in order to stabilize the course of economic communities included in the European Union. At the same time, the European currency (ECU), based on a basket of national currencies, appeared. The ECU was the predecessor of the Euro.
In the early stages, the movement was not completely successful; there were many technical difficulties. Periodic adjustments increased the value of strong currencies and lowered the weaker ones.
However, after 1986, changes in indicatorsnational interest rates were used to keep currencies within a narrow range (from the mutual central rate). The countries participating in the process had to correspond to the established unit, which was a decisive contribution to the fight against inflation.
К установлению правильного механизма валютных courses (MVK) for all participating States until 1990 did not join the United Kingdom. She was forced to abandon him again in 1992, because she could not stay within the limits of the limits of the IMC.
The project, however, continued to develop in accordance with the Maastricht Treaty, which confirmed the importance of a collective structure.
In 1999, when the Euro appeared, the European Monetary System ended its existence, despite the fact that the exchange rate mechanism continues to work.
