On 6 December 1978, commenting on the outcome of the Brussels European Council of 4 and 5 December, Pierre Dabezies and René-Victor Pilhes, chairmen of the Association pour une nouvelle politique étrangère (‘Association for a new foreign policy’), publish an opinion piece in the French daily newspaper Le Monde warning against the risks of German monetary domination in Europe following the decision by the Nine to establish a European Monetary System (EMS) with effect from 1 January 1979.