Am 10. Mai 1971 kommentiert die französische Tageszeitung Le Figaro die Beschlüsse der Finanzminister der Sechs auf ihrer Tagung am 8. und 9. Mai 1971 in Brüssel und analysiert die Entscheidung der deutschen Regierung, ihre nationale Währung floaten zu lassen.

In einer am 11. Mai 1971 gehaltenen Rede verteidigt Karl Schiller, Bundesminister für Wirtschaft, die Freigabe des Wechselkurses der Deutschen Mark und erklärt die währungspolitischen Maßnahmen der Bundesregierung.

Am 28. Mai 1971 kommentiert die deutsche Tageszeitung Die Welt die vergeblichen Versuche der Europäer, die Währungsinstabilität zu beenden.

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.

Am 30. September 1971 hält Pierre Werner, Gouverneur des Internationalen Währungsfonds (IWF) für Luxemburg, eine Rede vor der Jahresversammlung der Gouverneure des IWF 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.