Editing European Monetary System (section)

===Changing operating principles and preparing for the Euro===
The EMS went through two distinct phases.<ref name="Preda-2017">{{Cite book |url=https://www.peterlang.com/document/1113190 |title=The History of the European Monetary Union |date=2017| publisher=[[Peter Lang (publisher)|Peter Lang]] |isbn=978-2-8076-0100-0 |editor-last=Preda |editor-first=Daniela}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2025}} During the first period, from 1979 to 1986, the EMS allowed member countries a certain degree of autonomy in monetary policy by restricting the movement of capital. The second period, from 1987 to 1992, the EMS was more rigid.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}} In 1988, a committee was set up under EEC President [[Jacques Delors]] to begin changing the EMS to provide favorable starting conditions for the transition to [[Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union|Economic and Monetary Union]] (EMU).<ref name="Weber-1991">{{Cite journal|last1=Weber|first1=Axel A.|last2=Baldwin|first2=Richard|last3=Obstfeld|first3=Maurice|date=1991|title=Reputation and Credibility in the European Monetary System|journal=Economic Policy|volume=6|issue=12|pages=57|doi=10.2307/1344449|jstor=1344449|issn=0266-4658}}</ref> The Delors plan was a three-stage process that lead to a single European currency under the control of a [[European Central Bank]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Jeffery|first=Simon|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jun/06/euro.eu|title=The euro: a timeline|date=2003-06-06|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-03-27|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>