"Command and control in the committee of governors: Leadership, staff, and preparations for EMU"

Andrews, David M. (2003) "Command and control in the committee of governors: Leadership, staff, and preparations for EMU" . In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 2003 (8th), March 27-29, 2003, pages 30, Nashville, TN.

Abstract

Limitations of space prevent a full demonstration of the large extent to which the decision making bodies of the European Central Bank derived from counterparts organized in the last years of the Committee of Governors and its auxiliary bodies. Instead, following summary review of its origins, I focus on two aspects of the Committee's early development the organization of its leadership ("command") and the roll of staff ("control"). This focus on the organization of leadership and staff within the Committee presents a window through which to consider the debate about the appropriate role of the Committee, and by extension of European monetary affairs more generally. It also provides an analytical lever for assessing the remarkable changes that the Committee underwent in the last years of its existence. Following a summary of those changes, the fuel portion of the paper addresses itself to why the Governors permitted the transformation of the Committee from a rather weak institution-as-space to an increasingly strong institution-as-actor in those final years.