"The logic behind European monetary cooperation and integration can only be understood through an examination of French efforts to maximize their monetary power in relation to Germany and America. This book provides a detailed and historically informed study of the motives and economic and political attitudes that shaped French policy on European developments over a thirty-year period, from the collapse of the International Monetary System in the late 1960s and early 1970s through to the start of EMU on 1 January 1999. French governments sought to reduce the impact of American and German monetary policies on the French economy and maximize their influence over the formulation of these policies. However, given the asymmetry of European exchange rate mechanisms and the 'sound money' bias of the EMU project, the willingness and ability of French governments to participate in these arrangements depended on their pursuit of low inflationary economic policies."--BOOK JACKET.