1978 6th July
Bremen European Council
Hosts the European Council as leaders develop plans for a European Monetary System.
European integration · permanent subject timeline
European Monetary System
Exchange-rate coordination and the path toward monetary union. This page combines historical context with 19 matching records drawn directly from the World History Database EEC archive.
Historical context
European Monetary System: overview and significance
What happened?
The European Monetary System was developed in the late 1970s to reduce exchange-rate instability among participating European currencies. It included the Exchange Rate Mechanism and the European Currency Unit.
Why was it important?
The EMS became an important precursor to Economic and Monetary Union and the euro, while also exposing tensions between national economic policies and exchange-rate commitments.
World History Database records
European Monetary System timeline
The records below are selected from the 936-record EEC and European integration archive and rendered as static HTML in chronological order.
1978
1978 6th July
Bremen European Council
Represents Ireland as leaders develop plans for a European Monetary System.
1978 6th July
Bremen European Council
Represents Italy as leaders develop plans for a European Monetary System.
1978 7th July
European Monetary System Initiative
Supports the Bremen agreement that advances plans for closer European monetary cooperation.
1978 7th July
European Monetary System Initiative
Supports the Bremen initiative for closer European monetary cooperation.
1978 7th July
European Monetary System Initiative
Supports the Bremen initiative for closer coordination of European exchange rates and monetary policy.
1978 July
European Monetary System Initiative
Giscard worked with Helmut Schmidt to advance plans for the European Monetary System.
1978 5th December
European Monetary System Agreement
Participates as the Brussels European Council finalises the political agreement creating the European Monetary System.
1978 5th December
European Monetary System Agreement
Participates as the European Council reaches political agreement on creating the European Monetary System.
1978 December
European Monetary System Agreement
European leaders agreed the framework for the European Monetary System, strongly promoted by Giscard.
1979
1979 13th March
European Monetary System Launch
France entered the European Monetary System, designed to stabilise exchange rates among participating Community currencies.
1979 13th March
European Monetary System Launch
Heads the German government when the European Monetary System begins operating with the Deutsche Mark participating.
1979 13th March
European Monetary System Launch
Heads the government when Ireland joins the new European Monetary System.
1979 13th March
Irish Pound Enters EMS
Oversees Ireland's entry into the European Monetary System and the Irish pound's break from sterling parity.
1979 13th March
European Monetary System Launch
Heads the Italian government when the European Monetary System begins operating.
1979 13th March
European Monetary System Launch
Serves as foreign minister as Italy participates in the new European Monetary System.
1982
1982
European Monetary Cooperation
Mitterrand kept France inside the European Monetary System despite domestic economic pressures.
1998
1998 16th March
Greek Drachma Enters ERM
Oversees economic policy as the drachma joins the exchange-rate mechanism with a central rate of 357 per ECU.
1998 16th March
Greek Drachma Enters ERM
Heads the government when the drachma enters the European Monetary System exchange-rate mechanism.
Editorial provenance
Sources and editorial review
Compiled and edited by World History Database.
Historical context is editorial material; the chronology is generated from World History Database EEC records.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
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