Pierre Werner and Europe (eBook)

Elena Danescu is an internationally renowned expert on the work and achievements of Pierre Werner. She is a Research Scientist at the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History. She holds a PhD in Political Economics from the National Institute of Economic Research (INCE). She is Fellow of Robert Schuman Institute of European Affairs and joined the University of Luxembourg in 2016 and has been involved in several international projects focusing on European integration history and the role of Luxembourg and its elites in the European integration process, in EMU and in EU governance.

Acknowledgements 8
Foreword 11
Preface 17
Contents 21
List of Abbreviations 26
Terminology 29
1 Introduction 33
1.1A Man Committed to the European Ideal 35
1.2A Man as Seen Through His Archives 38
1.3A Man and His Report: A Brief Overview of the Narrative 41
2 Itinéraires luxembourgeois et européens: Pierre Werner’s Biographical Highlights 50
3 The Werner Committee in Context: Monetary Unification and European Integration 64
3.1The Post-War International Monetary Environment 66
3.2Pierre Werner’s Monetary Thinking and Political Action in the 1960s 71
3.2.1Monetary Innovation Through the Luxembourg Financial Centre 83
3.3A Turbulent Economic and Monetary Climate 84
3.3.1The First and Second Barre Plans 87
3.3.2The Hague Summit 92
3.3.3Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg Present Their Plans (January–February 1970) 100
3.3.3.1 The German Monetary Plan (the Schiller Plan) 100
3.3.3.2 The Belgian Monetary Plan (the Snoy Plan) 101
3.3.3.3 The Luxembourg Monetary Plan (the ‘First Werner Plan’) 103
4 Formation of the Werner Committee and an Overview of Its Work (March–October 1970) 124
4.1Pierre Werner’s Appointment as Chairman—Three Different Accounts 125
4.2The Work of the Werner Committee—An Ambitious Task 131
4.2.1Preliminary Meeting (Luxembourg, 11 March 1970) 131
4.2.2First Meeting (Luxembourg, 20 March 1970) 133
4.2.3Second Meeting (Brussels, 7 April 1970) 135
4.2.4Third Meeting (Rome, 30 April 1970) 139
4.2.5Fourth and Fifth Meetings (Luxembourg, 14 May and 20 May 1970) 141
4.2.6Further Work by the Werner Committee 143
4.2.7Sixth Meeting (Luxembourg, 24 June 1970) 150
4.2.8Seventh Meeting (Paris, 7 July 1970) 152
4.2.9Eighth Meeting (Luxembourg, 27 July 1970) 153
4.2.10Ninth Meeting (Luxembourg, 10 and 11 September 1970) 155
4.2.11Tenth Meeting (Copenhagen, 23 and 24 September 1970) 156
4.2.12Eleventh Meeting (Luxembourg, 7 October 1970) 157
5 The Werner Report 192
5.1The Interim Report 194
5.1.1The Start Point of EMU 195
5.1.2The Final Goal 197
5.1.3An Irreversible Process by Stages 200
5.1.4The First Stage 201
5.1.5An Exchange Stabilisation Fund in the First Stage? 202
5.1.6Conclusions 204
5.2The Final Report 206
5.2.1Final Objective and Institutional Aspects of EMU 206
5.2.2Key Features of the First Stage 209
5.2.3Transition to the Final Objective 212
5.3Input from the Committee of Governors of the Central Banks 213
5.4Economists vs. Monetarists: Towards a Balanced Approach to EMU 220
6 Reactions to the Werner Report 234
6.1The European Parliament 236
6.1.1Debate by the Special Committees of the EP 236
6.1.2Enlargement of the Community and the Outlook for EMU: What Role Should the Pound Sterling Play? 245
6.1.3Debates During the Plenary Sittings of the EP 248
6.2The European Commission and the Werner Report—Agreement and Discord 256
6.3The Council 265
6.4Political Reactions in the Member States 273
6.5Representative Economic, Social and Civic Organisations 293
6.5.1The Economic and Social Committee 293
6.5.2Professional, Trade Union and Civic Organisations 297
6.6Reception by the International Media 302
7 The Implementation of the Werner Report 335
7.1The First Stage Under Pressure 336
7.2The Monetary Snake and the EMCF in Trouble 341
7.3The Report Is Shelved 348
8 The Werner Report: A Blueprint for EMU? 361
8.1Plans and Studies Drawn up After the Werner Report 361
8.2The Werner Report and the Delors Report 364
9 Pierre Werner and the Werner Report 375
9.1A Three-Point Method 375
9.2Deepening of the Werner Group’s Work for the Final Report 376
9.3The Role of the Central Bankers in Shaping EMU 376
9.4The External Dimension of EMU 377
9.5Consensus Building Through Network Diplomacy 378
9.6A Parallel Approach to a Symmetrical EMU 379
10 Conclusion 384
Anchor 2 386
Appendix A: Archival Insights 388
Appendix B: Chronology 428
Appendix C: Index of Key Figures 470
Appendix D: Luxembourg in a Nutshell 497
From Agrarian Economy to Knowledge Economy: An Outline of Successive Transitions 498
Sources and Bibliography 506
Index 518