Ten years after it began, the European Monetary System is now undergoing considerable change. The abolition of intra-EC capital controls in 1990 may, it is argued, undermine the stability of the weaker currencies in the System, while the Delors committee has proposed far-reaching changes as part of a process of economic and monetary union.

On 11/12 May, CEPR held a joint conference in Madrid with the Secretaría General de Comercio of the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda, on `Managing Change in the EMS'. The conference was organized by CEPR Director Richard Portes and José Viñals (Banco de España and CEPR). Some of the research discussed there was produced under the auspices of CEPR's International Macroeconomics programme, supported by grants from the Ford and Alfred P Sloan Foundations.

The conference was divided into six sessions, each consisting of two or more policy-oriented presentations.

Currency Substitution Alessandra Casella (University of California, Berkeley, and CEPR) Alberto Giovannini (Columbia University and CEPR) Michael Wickens (University of Southampton and CEPR)
Fiscal Policy in a Fixed Exchange Rate Area Jacques Melitz (Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques, Paris, and CEPR) William Branson (Princeton University and CEPR) M Conthe (Dirección General del Tesoro y Política Financiera)
Labour Markets and the Wage-Price Mechanism David Begg (Birkbeck College, London, and CEPR) Charles Wyplosz (Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires, Fontainebleau, and CEPR) J L Feito (Asesores Bursátiles)
Current Account Balances and Capital Mobility William Branson (Princeton University and CEPR) Horst Siebert (Institut für Weltwirtschaft, Kiel) Francesco Giavazzi (Università di Bologna and CEPR) Luis Mañas (REPSOL)
Intervention and Monetary Policy Luigi Spaventa (Università di Roma and CEPR) Mark Taylor (City University Business School and CEPR)
Macroeconomic Policy Coordination Richard Portes (CEPR and Birkbeck College, London) V J Fernández (Dirección General del Tesoro) Jacob Frenkel (International Monetary Fund).