European Monetary Agreement

The European Monetary Agreement was a multilateral financial settlement system among European countries, signed by seventeen states in Paris on August 5, 1955, and administered by the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, later the OECD. Its purpose was to achieve economic integration by coordinating member states' exchange rates, allowing direct currency conversion and building integrated balance of payments accounts, and it contributed to currency convertibility across Europe. It operated until 1972, when it was replaced by more advanced facilities offered by the International Monetary Fund, having served as a stepping stone toward the European monetary integration later carried forward by the European Economic Community.