In this interview excerpt, Étienne Davignon, Member (1977–1981) then Vice-President (1981–1985) of the Commission of the European Communities with particular responsibility for the Internal Market, Industrial Affairs and the Customs Union, discusses the role played by Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa during his time as Director in the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs at the European Commission from 1979 to 1983.

On 25 September 1981, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Director-General of Economic and Financial Affairs at the European Commission, reveals to the Italian Chamber of Commerce for Great Britain, in London, the difficulties posed by the entry of the pound sterling into the European monetary system (EMS).

In this interview excerpt, Alfonso Iozzo, senior executive in the Sanpaolo banking group from 1961 to 2006, Chairman of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti in Rome from 2006 to 2008, member of the European Federalist Movement since 1963 and Vice-Chairman of the Triffin International Foundation, describes the circumstances in which he worked with Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa when Padoa-Schioppa was a Director in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, a post that he held from 1979 to 1983. He particularly mentions the establishment of an ECU clearing system designed to facilitate trade within the European Monetary System (EMS).

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, Member of the European Parliament and Chairman of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee from 1979 to 1981 and French Minister for the Economy and Finance from 1981 to 1984, discusses the circumstances in which he met Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa when he was a Director in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, a post he held from 1979 to 1983.

In this interview excerpt, Michel Camdessus, Director of the French Treasury from 1982 to 1984, Governor of the Banque de France from 1984 to 1987 and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1987 to 2000, describes the circumstances in which he met Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa in 1982 when Padoa-Schioppa was a Director in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic Affairs and Finance. At this time, France was involved in negotiating its economic recovery plan with the European Communities on the initiative of Jacques Delors, Minister for the Economy, Finance and the Budget from 1981 to 1984.

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995, explains the objectives and main points of the ‘Efficiency, Stability and Equity’ report submitted by Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa to the Commission of the European Communities in 1988. At that time Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa was Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italy, a post he held from 1984 to 1997.

At the end of the Hanover European Council of 27 and 28 June 1988, Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission, and Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and President-in-Office of the Council of the European Communities, hold a press conference during which they outline the advantages of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the working method required to achieve this.

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995, explains the role played by Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italy from 1984 to 1997, as part of the ‘Delors Committee’ that was set up to study and propose practical steps that would lead to the gradual establishment of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

In June 1988, the Hanover European Council entrusts to a Committee chaired by Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities, ‘the task of studying and proposing concrete stages leading towards the progressive realisation of economic and monetary union (EMU).' The ‘Delors Report', published in April 1989, proposes that EMU be achieved in three stages. During stage two, a European System of Central Banks (ESCB) will be set up in order to make preparations for the transition to the single Community currency during the third stage.

In his memoirs, Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission between 1985 and 1995, discusses the establishment, the composition and the work of the Delors Committee which, on 12 April 1989, proposes to the Member States of the European Communities the creation of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in three stages.

In this interview excerpt, Élisabeth Guigou, Secretary-General of the Interministerial Committee for Questions on European Economic Cooperation from 1985 to 1990 and Special Adviser to French President François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1990, discusses the circumstances in which she met Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italy from 1984 to 1997. She particularly describes Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa’s contribution to the work of the ‘Guigou Group’, which was set up to carry out additional work following the submission in 1989 of the Delors Report on the establishment of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

In this interview, Élisabeth Guigou, Secretary-General of the Interministerial Committee for Questions on European Economic Cooperation (SGCI) from 1985 to 1990 and Policy Officer to the President of the French Republic, François Mitterrand, from 1988 to 1990, describes the additional work carried out after the submission of the Delors Report on the establishment of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1989 and discusses the differences of opinion between France and Germany on this issue.

In this interview excerpt, Alfonso Iozzo, senior executive in the Sanpaolo banking group from 1961 to 2006, Chairman of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti in Rome from 2006 to 2008, member of the European Federalist Movement since 1963 and Vice-Chairman of the Triffin International Foundation, describes the involvement of Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italy from 1984 to 1997, in the Italian delegation that took part in the negotiations on Economic and Monetary Union.

In this interview excerpt, Romano Prodi, President of the Italian Council from 1996 to 1998 and 2006 to 2008 and President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004, speaks about his regrets at the introduction of the Stability Pact when the euro was established and mentions his discussions with Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italy from 1984 to 1997 and a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank from 1998 to 2005, on this subject.

In December 1992, in the Italian diplomatic journal Affari Esteri, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italy and former rapporteur for the Delors Committee on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), outlines the origins and implications of EMU and considers its actual meaning for the Italian economy.

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995, describes the role played by Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italy from 1984 to 1997, in establishing the Italian Government’s position in the negotiations that led to the signing of the Treaty on Economic and Monetary Union in 1992.

In this interview excerpt, Étienne Davignon, Member (1977–1981) then Vice-President (1981–1985) of the Commission of the European Communities with particular responsibility for the Internal Market, Industrial Affairs and the Customs Union, explains the influence of Italian senior officials and some ministers in the negotiation process that led to the establishment of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

The Treaty on European Union is signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992 and enters into force on 1 November 1993.