European Monetary System

American  

noun

1. a Common Market program designed to narrow the fluctuation of western European currencies against one another. EMS

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European Monetary System British  

noun

1.  EMS.  the system used in the European Union for stabilizing exchange rates between the currencies of member states and financing the balance-of-payments support mechanism. The original Exchange Rate Mechanism was formed in 1979 but superseded in 1999 when the euro was adopted as official currency of 11 EU member states. A new exchange rate mechanism (ERM II) based on the euro is used to regulate the currencies of participating states that have not adopted the euro

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Example Sentences

He had been instrumental in creating the 1972 fixed-exchange-rate arrangement that evolved in 1979 into the European Monetary System, the forerunner of today’s euro currency.

From Washington Post • Dec. 2, 2020

In Europe, leaders introduced the European Monetary System in 1979—the ancestor of today’s euro zone.

From Economist • Jul. 3, 2014

Heath insisted that there was an alternative to monetarism: selective reflation and membership in the European Monetary System.

From Time Magazine Archive

A key example: Schmidt's vigorous campaign for the European Monetary System, which, except for the British pound, ties European Community currencies together within a narrow band of fluctuation.

From Time Magazine Archive

President Fran�ois Mitterrand was warned by his advisers a month ago that the feeble French franc's pegged level within the European Monetary System could no longer be defended on world currency markets.

From Time Magazine Archive