BIS Working Papers No 201 Central banks, governments and the European monetary unification process by Alexandre Lamfalussy Monetary and Economic Department February 2006 JEL Classification Numbers: E42, E52, E58, F33, N14 Keywords: central bank, government, cooperation, European Monetary Union, European Central Bank, monetary and financial stability BIS Working Papers are written by members of the Monetary and Economic Department of the Bank for International Settlements, and from time to time by other economists, and are published by the Bank. The views expressed in them are those of their authors and not necessarily the views of the BIS. Copies of publications are available from: Bank for International Settlements Press & Communications CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland E-mail:
[email protected] Fax: +41 61 280 9100 and +41 61 280 8100 This publication is available on the BIS website (www.bis.org). © Bank for International Settlements 2006. All rights reserved. Brief excerpts may be reproduced or translated provided the source is cited. ISSN 1020-0959 (print) ISSN 1682-7678 (online) Foreword On 27-29 June 2005, the BIS held its Fourth Annual Research Conference on “Past and Future of Central Bank Cooperation”. This event brought together some 80 senior officials from central banks, academic institutions and the private sector to exchange views on this topic (see the programme attached). This paper was presented at the conference. The conference was part of the BIS 75th Anniversary programme. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not those of the BIS iii Abstract This paper explores the evolving relationship between central banks and governments in the European monetary unification process.