UNDERSTANDING THE GENESIS OF THE EUROPEAN MONETARY UNION. AN INSTITUTIONALIST APPROACH

European Monetary integration has proved to be a difficult process, interspersed with periods of hesitation, jailed projects and, at some crossroads, a certain level of uncertainty concerning its success. The creation of the European Monetary Union was essentially a political decision, which could not have been carried out successfully in the absence of a proper institutional framework. Permanently seeking for monetary stability, European countries have always paid a special attention to institutions and the way in which they support their efforts towards the achievement of monetary policy related goals.