On 1 June 1998, in view of the implementation of the third phase of economic and monetary union(EMU), Luxembourg, not having a central bank, transforms the Lusembourg Monetary Institute (IML) into a national central bank.

Article from the daily newspaper Le Monde on the organisation of the 'euro system'. The components of the system, the European Central Bank and the 12 national central banks, are seeking to strike a balance between the centralisation required to guarantee the efficiency of the system as a whole and sufficient decentralisation to maintain the powers and responsibilities of the national central banks.

Rosa Maria Lastra analyses the division of responsibilities between the European Central Bank and the National Central Banks. Whereas responsibility for monetary policy has been transferred to the supranational level, responsibilities in the field of exchange rate policy, prudential supervision and crisis management remain at the national level.