‘The pound falls'. In June 1972, the Soviet weekly magazine Krokodil takes an ironic view of the considerable depreciation affecting the British currency.

On 1 September 1972, French Finance Minister, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, asks President of the European Commission, Franco Maria Malfatti, to convene urgently the Economic and Financial Policies Coordination Group in order to plan a common European policy to curb inflation.

In this cartoon appearing in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on 23 October 1972, Ironimus illustrates the inflationary threat hovering over the 'Nine Europeans'.

On 5 December 1972, the Council of the European Communities adopted a resolution setting out the action to be taken by the Nine to tackle inflation.

On 14 September 1973, the German Finance Minister, Helmut Schmidt, announces to the Bundestag the Government's policy to overcome the global monetary crisis.

On 14 February 1973, the Council of Ministers of the Nine calls for a reform of the international monetary system following the 10 % devaluation of the US dollar.

In February 1973, the French cartoonist, Plantu, illustrates the decision taken by the US President, Richard Nixon, to devalue the dollar by 10 % and considers the possible consequences for Europe in terms of trade.

On 4 March 1973, the European Commission forwards to the Council a communication in which it sets out the measures to be applied in order to maintain the cohesion of the international monetary system.

In March 1973, in Paris, the Finance Ministers and the Governors of the central banks of the Nine hold discussions with experts from the European Monetary Fund (EMF) and with their American, Japanese, Canadian, Swiss and Swedish counterparts, on possible ways to resolve the international monetary crisis. From left to right: Olivier Wormser, Governor of the Bank of France, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French Finance Minister, and Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, President of the EMF.

On 9 March 1973, at the meeting in Paris between the Finance Ministers of the Nine and the representatives of the Group of Ten, the President of the Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community (EEC) emphasises the need to take concerted action in order to reorganise the international monetary system.

On 10 March 1973, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera criticises the inability of the Nine to present a united front against the international monetary crisis.

On 12 March 1973, the Council of the European Communities lists the measures taken by the Nine in order to cope with the international monetary crisis.

On 16 March 1973, the Finance Ministers and Governors of the Central Banks of the ten countries participating in the General Arrangements to Borrow and the Member States of the European Economic Community publish a joint communiqué concerning the measures to be adopted in order to resolve the international monetary crisis.

On 19 May 1973, Luxembourg Prime Minister, Pierre Werner, emphasises the importance, for Luxembourg, of European monetary union as a tool to combat inflation.

‘The drowning men’. In September 1973, Opland, Dutch cartoonist, depicts the attempts of the Netherlands Government to save the national currency from the storm whipped up by inflation.

‘Come on then, jump!’ In 1973, despite the efforts of Helmut Schmidt, Karl Schiller’s successor as Finance Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), inflation continues to undermine the European economies.

On 19 January 1974, the West German Government issues a press communiqué on the withdrawal of the French franc from the European monetary snake.

On 21 January 1974, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comments on France’s decision to withdraw from the European currency snake and considers the economic and monetary crisis currently affecting the countries of Western Europe.

On 22 January 1974, the French daily newspaper Le Monde describes the range of parities between the French franc and the German mark in the European currency snake.

On 23 January 1974, Helmut Schmidt, German Finance Minister, in a speech to the Bundestag, reveals the measures proposed by the German Government to support the European monetary snake.

On 30 January 1974, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comments on France’s decision to withdraw from the European currency snake and expresses anxiety over the repercussions that such a decision may have on the implementation of European economic and monetary union.

On 31 January 1974, the European Commission solemnly calls upon the Heads of State or Government of the Member States of the European Economic Community to foster stronger Community ties and to work together to combat the political and economic crisis affecting the ‘Europe of the Nine'.

In his memoirs, former French President, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, recalls the problems associated with the generalised floatation of the European currencies between 1974 and 1976, and analyses the withdrawal of the French franc from the European currency snake.