Am 9. Mai 1971 erklärt Bundeskanzler Willy Brandt, bei einem Fernsehauftritt, die Gründe die die Bundesregierung zur Freigabe des Wechselkurses der Deutschmark zwingen.

On 12 May 1971, in a statement to the French National Assembly, the French Economy and Finance Minister and President-in-Office of the Ecofin Council, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, reveals the measures proposed by France to combat the European monetary crisis.

On 20 July 1971, less than a month before the unilateral decision by the United States to suspend the convertibility of the dollar into gold, the Council of Finance Ministers of the Six debates possibilities for resolving the international monetary crisis. Mario Ferrari Aggradi (left), Italian Treasury Minister, meets Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French Economy and Finance Minister and President-in-Office of the Ecofin Council.

On 15 August 1971, US President, Richard Nixon, passes the death sentence on the Bretton Woods international monetary system, by unilaterally suspending the convertibility of the dollar into gold.

On 17 August 1971, the French daily newspaper Le Monde analyses the repercussions of the unilateral decision taken two days earlier by the US President, Richard Nixon, to suspend the convertibility of the dollar into gold.

Am 18. August 1971 analysiert die Tageszeitung Süddeutsche Zeitung die wirtschaflichen und monetären Konsequenzen des amerikanischen Beschlusses, der drei Tage zuvor, den Dollar vom Gold abkoppelt.

'The hour of the Europeans'. For the German cartoonist Gabor Benedek, American President Richard Nixon's decision to suspend the dollar's convertibility into gold is an incentive for the Member States of the European Communities to plan the introduction of a common monetary policy.

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 14 September 1971, the Council of Ministers of the Six expresses its view on the reform of the international monetary system and calls for a realignment of all parities and for the abolition of the American surcharge.

On 22 September 1971, after the American decision to suspend the gold convertibility of the dollar, Emilio Colombo, President of the Council of Ministers in Italy, agrees with the words of Franco Maria Malfatti, President of the Commission of the European Communities, who wants the Six to make rapid progress on economic and monetary union.

Am 25. September 1971 gibt der französische Präsident Georges Pompidou eine Pressekonferenz, auf der er die Gründe für die Währungskrise anführt und Lösungsvorschläge für deren Überwindung unterbreitet.

On 25 September 1971, the French daily newspaper Le Monde reviews the impact of the decision taken six weeks earlier by the US President, Richard Nixon, to suspend the convertibility of the dollar in the light of economic policy.

On 27 October 1971, in response to the US decision to suspend the dollar's convertibility to gold, French President Georges Pompidou replies to a letter from Franco Maria Malfatti, President of the Commission of the European Communities, and reaffirms his wish to see the Six adopt a truly Community attitude by putting aside their national differences on monetary policy.

On 2 December 1971, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera analyses the difficult progress of the negotiations being conducted between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the United States with a view to resolving the international economic and monetary problems resulting from the collapse of the Bretton Woods system.

Am 18. Dezember 1971 veröffentlicht der „Zehnerklub“ ein Kommuniqué, in dem er die wichtigsten Währungsmaßnahmen darlegt, die von den Ministern und Zentralbankgouverneuren der zehn Unterzeichnerstaaten der Allgemeinen Kreditvereinbarungen in Washington angenommen wurden.

Bei seiner Rückkehr vom Gipfeltreffen der „G10“ teilt der französische Wirtschafts- und Finanzminister Valéry Giscard d’Estaing am 19. Dezember 1971 den Journalisten des ORTF (Office de Radiodiffusion et Télévision Française) seine Eindrücke von den Ergebnissen der Tagung in Washington mit.

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.

Am 21. Dezember 1971, drei Tage nach der Konferenz der Zehnergruppe in Washington, stellt Karl Schiller, Bundesminister für Finanzen, die währungspolitischen Beschlüsse der Bundesrepublik Deutschland vor.

Am 19. Januar 1972 erläutert der deutsche Bundesminister für Finanzen, Karl Schiller, vor dem Bundestag die währungspolitischen Beschlüsse von Washington und stellt die neuen Grundsätze der deutschen Währungspolitik vor.

In this interview, Jacques de Larosière, former Head of Department in the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance, looks back at the end of the international monetary system, devised at Bretton Woods in 1944, following the United States’ decision in 1971 to uncouple the dollar from the value of gold.

In this interview, Jacques de Larosière, former Head of Department at the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance, discusses the principles which guided France's international and European monetary policy in the context of the end of the Bretton Woods system and the decoupling of the value of the dollar and the value of gold.