This volume contains the proceedings of a conference on ‘European Financial Integration’, which was organized by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the Istituto Mobiliare Italiano (IMI). It was held in Rome at IMI's head office on 22/23 January 1990. The conference is part of a wide-ranging initiative by CEPR to bring high-quality, policy-relevant academic research to bear on questions raised by the completion of the European internal market and by economic and monetary union. This conference was the first event associated with CEPR's new research programme on Fiscal and Monetary Integration in Europe, supported by the Stimulation Programme for Economic Science (SPES) of the European Commission. The Centre's initiative included a companion conference on ‘The Impact of 1992 on European Trade and Industry’ held at Urbino, Italy, in March 1990, the proceedings of which will be published in early 1991. Cambridge University Press has also published two special issues of the journal Economic Policy on the subject of 1992, in October 1989 and April 1990.

Throughout the organization of the Rome conference we received invaluable advice and support from CEPR (in particular from Richard Portes, Ann Shearlock and Stephen Yeo) and from IMI (in particular from Giorgio Questa, Emilio Barone and Stefania Ferretti): we are grateful to all of them for the help that they have provided. We are also grateful for the additional financing provided by the Ford and Alfred P Sloan Foundations.

In producing this volume we have been fortunate in being guided by Paul Compton, Sarah Wellburn and David Guthrie of CEPR, Professor John Black of Exeter University, and Patrick McCartan of Cambridge University Press.