On 29 June 1989, in London, commenting on the outcome of the Madrid European Council held on 26 and 27 June, British MPs debate the issue of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and criticise the April 1989 Delors Plan which provides for the implementation of EMU in three successive stages.

On 19 January 1990, Lamberto Dini, Director of the Bank of Italy and member of the Monetary Committee of the European Communities, raises the issue of monetary policy within the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), with particular emphasis on the role of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).

On 28 June 1989, commenting on the decision of the Madrid European Council to endorse the establishment of economic and monetary union (EMU) in three stages, the British left-wing daily newspaper The Guardian summarises the criticisms levelled at EMU by Margaret Thatcher’s government.

Am 3. April 1993 fragt die Schweizer Neue Zürcher Zeitung nach der Zukunft der im Maastrichter Vertrag vorgesehenen Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion, während sich Europa in einer schweren Krise befindet.

Following the Rome European Council held on 27 and 28 October 1990, the Spanish cartoonist Alfredo comments on the opposition of Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister, to the setting of a timetable for economic and monetary union. At the meeting, Margaret Thatcher rejects the Spanish proposal to postpone the deadlines. In the cartoon, Felipe González, as a good Andalusian, launches his charm offensive with the Iron Lady, who remains impassive.

In September 1992, the French magazine Le Monde diplomatique warns against the threat to the economy of a single European currency.

On 18 April 1990, Emanuele Gazzo, Director of Agence Europe, sees the implementation of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) as the logical consequence of a federal European Union.

In September 1993, Ignacio Ramonet, leader-writer for the French monthly newspaper Le Monde Diplomatique, harshly criticises the dangers for the fight against unemployment and for economic development in Europe of maintaining the convergence criteria laid down by the Maastricht Treaty in order to prepare for the transition to the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

On 8 April 1991, in Luxembourg, the Interinstitutional Conference on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) considers the implications and the progress of the establishment of EMU.