On 31 December 1998, the day on which the irrevocable conversion rates for the euro are adopted and on the eve of the transition to the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), Yves-Thibault de Silguy, Member of the European Commission responsible for Economic and Financial Affairs, Monetary Matters, Credit and Investment and the Statistical Office, emphasises the advantages of the introduction of the single European currency and sincerely hopes for more progress in the process of European political integration.

On 31 December 1998, the day on which the irrevocable conversion rates for the euro are adopted and on the eve of the transition to the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), José Maria Gil Robles, President of the European Parliament, emphasises the advantages of the introduction of the single currency.

On 20 July 1963, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, the Six and the 18 Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM) sign a Convention that is valid for five years, confirming the Europe–Africa Association on the basis of free trade and financial aid from the Six.

On 31 December 1998, the Council, acting on the unanimous vote of those European Union Member States not covered by a derogation, on a proposal from the European Commission and after consulting the European Central Bank (ECB), establishes the irrevocable conversion rates for the euro which will be applicable from 1 January 1999, the date of transition to the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

On 31 December 1998, at a press conference held in Brussels at the end of the Ecofin Council which established the irrevocable conversion rates for the euro, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, French Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry, outlines the need for a degree of precision to five decimal places in the conversion rates.

On 31 December 1998, at the seat of the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities in Luxembourg, Jacques Santer, President of the European Commission, is invited by Lucien Emringer, Director-General of the Office, to unveil, in the 11 official languages of the European Union, the Official Journal L 359 which includes the Council ruling establishing the conversion rates between the euro and the national currencies of the Member States of the EU which are adopting it. In his address, Jacques Santer pays tribute to Pierre Werner, former Luxembourg Prime Minister and Finance Minister and the author, in 1970, of the report on the gradual achievement of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

In this interview, Leo Tindemans, former attaché in the Economic Affairs Service of the Belgian Ministry of Agriculture, outlines the implications of the discussions on postwar agricultural issues between the three Benelux countries.

In this interview, Leo Tindemans, former attaché in the Economic Affairs Service of the Belgian Ministry of Agriculture, refers to the US economic aid given to European countries after the Second World War through the Marshall Plan funds.

In this interview, Leo Tindemans, former Belgian Prime Minister and Minister for External Relations, refers to the eminent figure of Jean Monnet and his working methods within the Action Committee for the United States of Europe (ACUSE).

In this interview, Leo Tindemans, former Belgian Prime Minister and Minister for External Relations, gives a somewhat critical account of the cooperation between the three Benelux countries in the area of foreign and European policy.