Why was it so difficult for European Union countries to establish the European Central Bank? In the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, EU governments committed themselves to an independent, stability-oriented ECB, and to ensuring low inflation rates and low budget deficits. Between 1992 and 1998, they fought over the terms of membership and whether European economic policy should promote growth more than stability. Political parties transmit voter preferences over growth and stability into national policy on the basic priorities of monetary union, while the arrangement of economic institutions reinforces or frustrates the ambitions of a governing coalition. This not only leads to governments with clear priorities that conflict at the European level. Governing coalitions frustrated by economic institutions that thwart their economic policies can promote monetary union in order to force changes domestically. Therefore, conflict arose among stability-oriented governments over whether low budget deficits and inflation were to be achieved before EMU was launched. This reflected the conflict between France and Germany. The dissertation examines the links between the politics of economic policy in France, Germany and Spain, and their policies toward Economic and Monetary Union.

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