cooperation one approach to this question involves describing the eu institutions that have been set up for economic policy decision - making and cooperation. • ecofin, as the decision - making body for the ministers of finance and economy, is the principal forum in the field of economic policy. it is in this group that, for example, many of the decisions were taken so that monetary union could start on time. the budget policies of the member states have also been monitored here and this will continue under the stability pact. moreover, ecofin draws up an annual “ budget statement ”, the broad economic policy guidelines, containing the principles for economic policy in the eu area. • most of the matters on the ecofin agenda have been prepared by the monetary committee, which besides representatives for each of the fifteen member states ( normally an under - secretary of state or a deputy central bank governor ) includes representatives for the commission and, more recently, for the emi. when monetary union starts, the name of the monetary committee will be changed to economic and financial committee but at present it seems that its composition will be unchanged apart from the emi being replaced by the ecb. work on monetary union has been a heavy burden for these bodies in recent years. meetings have been protracted and business has ranged from major issues like the stability and growth pact, the new european exchange rate system ( erm2 ) and legislation for monetary union to matters such as the design of the european coinage. some of the structure is now changing with the advent of monetary union but not its basic features. the preparatory work is over, as is a good deal of the work connected with erm. a number of processes, such as those concerning government finances, are being modified. but this is accompanied by an increased need to discuss issues raised by the fact of monetary union. now that the countries which will be participating initially in monetary union have been singled out, moreover, an informal group - the euro 11 group - is being set up for discussions among the ministers of finance and economy in the euro area. the idea is that this group will concentrate on matters that concern just the participating countries and cater to the greater need for dialogue and cooperation that they perceive in connection with the inception of monetary union. however, this is not a decision - making body and all matters considered by euro 11 are prepared by the monetary committee, in which all fifteen eu member states are represented. the crucial institutional change is, of course, that as of next year the conduct of monetary policy

with. sweden had a copper standard at that time. after stockholms banco collapsed, it was not until the 1830s that the financial sector in sweden really took off. private banking firms emerged, and some of them began to issue their own banknotes. they continued doing so until the early 20th century, when the riksbank was granted a monopoly on issuing banknotes so that the state could gain a firmer grip on price stability and standardise payments. the development of financial technology has always been an important driving force behind changes in the financial sector and it has often entailed new challenges for financial stability. now and then, it has also given central banks reason to consider how they can best do their job. during the latter part of the 20th century and the beginning of this one, we have seen several innovations that have changed consumers ’ methods of payment. 11 in recent years, the amount of payments made with the aid of smartphones and mobile bank id has risen very rapidly. the riksbank has actually contributed to the latter by giving bankgirot access to a special account in the riksbank's payment system rix that enables secure payments with a mobile application. 12 use of cash declining rapidly in sweden all of this has contributed to the volume of outstanding cash in sweden declining from around 10 per cent of gdp at the beginning of the 1950s to around 1. 5 per cent of gdp today. the largest decline in the use of cash has taken place in recent some examples of innovations that have changed our way of making payments over the years include cheques, atms, credit and debit cards and bank transfers – initially as paper forms and later as direct transfers over the internet. 12 today 97 per cent of all citizens in sweden have access to some form of payment card. 85 per cent have access to on - line banking and 80 per cent have access to direct debiting. more than 60 per cent now have access to the swish payment app. 10 years. demand from the general public has fallen from almost sek 100 billion in 2007 to around sek 60 billion today. 13 banknotes and coins in circulation falling rapidly in sweden note. annual average for cash outside the banking sector, that is, cash held by companies, households and government agencies. source : statistics sweden one can say that the riksbank's banknote monopoly has almost had its day, as a number of rapid and simple electronic means of payment are being supplied by private agencies. you see