The movement towards the European Monetary Union and the creation of the euro lasted many years, complete with key personalities and major governmental treaties. When finally organized and implemented, it lead to a historical event that will forever change international economics. Of course with a change this tremendous comes the good and the bad, but if the economic welfare of the people is improved, everything was worth all the hassle.
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT
The beginnings of the movement for European monetary unification go back at least to the founding of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (which then became the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD) in 1948. One of the OECC's first accomplishments was the European Payments Union, established in 1950 and accomplished by the end of 1958, where the nations of Western Europe put their international reserves together and coordinated their policies with the intent of reestablishing current account convertibility.
In 1962 the Commission of the European Communities produced its first plan for a monetary union, which included a deadline for completion of nine years. Obviously, this deadline was a little overambitious for a group of countries whose only collective achievements had been the European Coal and Steel Community, an atomic energy community (Euratom), a customs union (the European Economic Community), and the Common Agricultural Policy of farm-product subsidization. The only accomplishment of the 1962 effort was a Committee of Central Bank Governors which was set up in 1964 but did not actually operate until the 1970s.
At the Hague ...