On 10 May 1971, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro comments on the decisions taken at the meeting of the Finance Ministers of the Six held on 8 and 9 May 1971 in Brussels, and analyses the German Government’s decision to let its national currency fluctuate.

On 11 May 1971, German Finance Minister, Karl Schiller, defends his Government's decision to allow the German mark to 'float', and justifies the main points of his monetary policy.

On 28 May 1971, the German daily newspaper Die Welt comments on the unsuccessful attempts in Europe to put an end to monetary instability.

On 23 August 1971, the French Embassy in Luxembourg informs its Foreign Ministry of the decisions taken by the Benelux countries concerning the monetary crisis. The cable notes that Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands have decided to maintain a fixed parity between their currencies, to restore the common agricultural market and to authorise intervention by the central banks on the respective markets in Community currencies. The Benelux countries have therefore created a monetary bloc that refuses to follow the dollar.

On 26 August 1971, Jean Monnet, President of the Action Committee for the United States of Europe (ACUSE), sends a letter to Pierre Werner, President of the Government and Finance Minister of Luxembourg and an active member of ACUSE, in which he shares his observations concerning the international monetary crisis.

On 10 September 1971, in the light of the US decision to suspend the dollar’s convertibility into gold, Franco Maria Malfatti, President of the Commission of the European Communities, sends a letter to Pierre Werner, President of the Luxembourg Government, in which he calls for a strengthening of the Community and the introduction of a genuine common monetary policy.

On 30 September 1971, Pierre Werner, Governor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Luxembourg, gives an address at the Annual Meeting of the IMF Governors in Washington.

On 21 December 1971, in an address in the Chamber of the Deputies, Luxembourg Finance Minister Pierre Werner sets out Luxembourg’s position concerning Washington’s recent decisions on international monetary matters.

On 10 April 1972, the Basle Agreement is concluded with a view to implementing, as from 24 April, the intervention system of the central banks to limit fluctuation between currencies to a maximum of 2.25 %. This photograph shows the coins of the currencies of the Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC) symbolically placed to represent the European currency snake.

In a statement to the European Parliament on 4 July 1972, Raymond Barre, Vice-President of the European Commission with special responsibility for Economic and Financial Affairs, defends the European currency snake and calls on the Six to exercise increased monetary austerity.