ABSTRACT
Nevertheless, at the end of 1973, long and heated discussions took place within the Council of Ministers and the COREPER on the subject of the transition to the second stage of European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The French, German and Dutch representatives were against the transition to the second stage of EMU with the argument that progress achieved during the first stage had been insufficient. In order to break the deadlock, Belgium proposed a compromise plan, in which the transition to the second stage would be combined with a series of concrete measures to be taken during 1974. The contents of 'a' second stage of EMU were devoid of almost any concrete measures. One was related to proposals leading to some modification of the European Economic Community (EEC) exchange rate system, the second was about the setting up of the Regional Fund and the third about the definition of a new EEC unit of account.
