Euro banknotes and coins Ic: Suggested reading

One of the objectives of this blawg is to suggest reading materials for students of history, politics, economics and law; now on European economic policy and the euro currency, launched at the beginning of 1999 and with banknotes and coins in circulation since 1 January 2002.

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An introductory brochure of a general nature, available in 23 EU languages, is ‘The European Central Bank, the Eurosystem, the European System of Central Banks’ (2nd edition, April 2008). It presents the history of economic and monetary union, the structure and tasks of the European System of Central Banks, monetary policy, the Target2 System, the euro banknotes and coins and banking supervision, and it offers a handy glossary for the general reader. The English version is available at the website of the European Central Bank:

http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/other/escb_en.pdf

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European Central Bank: How the euro became our money. A short history of the euro banknotes and coins (unknown date ; 94 pages).

This illustrated history of the euro banknotes and coins is available at:

http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/euro_became_our_moneyen.pdf



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Werner Becker: Der Euro wird zehn (EU Monitor 57, Deutsche Bank Research, 17. Juni 2008; 44 pages), is a detailed analysis, in German, of the successes and disappointments of nearly a decade of the single currency, since 1 January 1999 The strengths and weaknesses of the euro, the potential second world currency, are detailed in the face of approaching financial turmoil, which is going to be the first hard test of the Eurozone.

Available at:

http://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/CIB_INTERNET_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000226658.pdf

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‘10th Anniversary of the ECB’ is the theme of the Special edition of the Monthly Bulletin (29 May 2008; 158 pages), with a comprehensive overview of monetary policy within the euro area. The English version is available at:

http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/other/10thanniversaryoftheecbmb200806en.pdf

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Hanspeter K. Scheller: The European Central Bank ─ History, role and functions (2nd revised edition, 2006). The book is available in 13 languages; for the English version, go to:

http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/other/ecbhistoryrolefunctions2006en.pdf

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The European Central Bank: The monetary policy of the ECB (2004; 128 pages), available at:

http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/monetarypolicy2004en.pdf


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There are a number of useful publications on the ECB’s web pages, from the Monthly Bulletin and the handy Monthly Statistics Pocket Book to various specialist books and research papers. Look for Publications at:

http://www.ecb.europa.eu

The latest ECB Monthly Bulletin with economic and monetary developments, articles and euro area statistics (October 2008) is available at:

http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/mobu/mb200810en.pdf

The latest Statistics Pocket Book with macroeconomic data (October 2008):

http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/stapobo/spb200810en.pdf

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Both long term decisions and the current financial turmoil are reflected in the European Central Bank’s press releases, available at:

http://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2008/html/index.en.html

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If you are digging deeper, you might be interested in the ‘Legal framework of the Eurosystem and the ESCB. ECB legal acts and instruments’ (July 2008), which “contains summaries of the legal acts and instruments constituting the legal framework of the Eurosystem and the ESCB. It covers the main legal acts and instruments that have been adopted by the ECB and published since the ECB’s establishment in June 1998 up to the end of 2007.”

In other words, this publication contains legal material at a deeper level than the treaty provisions this blog is currently focused on. Go to:

http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/other/legalframeworkeurosystemescb2008en.pdf

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The legal framework of the European Central Bank in its entirety can be accessed through:

http://www.ecb.int/ecb/legal/html/index.en.html

There is a helpful User Guide and links for detailed search.

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‘Legal aspects of the European System of Central Banks ─ Liber amicorum Paolo Zamboni Garavelli’ (2005) is a hefty compilation of articles about various legal aspects of European monetary policy:
http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/other/legalaspectsescben.pdf

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Next this legal blog is going to return to the treaty and other provisions on euro banknotes and coins in Euroland.


Ralf Grahn