Virtual exhibit by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on the historic signing of the European Payments Union: OEEC and Monetary Cooperation in Europe's Post-war recovery

1. ©Marshall Plan Foundation/OEEC-OECD/OCDE OECD Library & Archives Historical Exhibit _____________________________________________________________________ OEEC and Monetary Cooperation in Europe’s Post-war Recovery

2. EUROPEAN PAYMENTS UNION (EPU) UNION EUROPEENNE DE PAIEMENTS (UEP) ©OECD

3. Quoting an OEEC press release on the EPU… Citant un communiquéde presse de l’OECE concernant l’UEP… Alexander Verdeles, Head of the Delegation of Greece to the OEEC Signing of the EPU Agreement, Paris, 19 September 1950 © OECD/OCDE

4. “If four people play bridge during an evening… « Si quatre personnes jouent ensemble au bridge pendant toute une soirée… Attilio Cattani, Head of the Delegation of Italy to the OEEC Signing of the EPU Agreement, Paris, 19 September 1950 © OECD/OCDE

5. …they may settle their debts at the end of each rubber. ...elle peuvent régler leurs dettes à la fin de chaque partie. C.C. Cremin, Head of the Delegation of Ireland to the OEEC Signing of the EPU Agreement, Paris, 19 September 1950 © OECD/OCDE

6. But if they change partners continually… Mais si elles changent de partenaire continuellement… Erik de Sydow, Head of the Delegation of Sweden to the OEEC Signing of the EPU Agreement, Paris, 19 September 1950 © OECD/OCDE

7. …they may prefer to keep the score on a piece of paper… …elles peuvent juger plus commode de tenir les comptes sur un bout de papier… Eyvind Bates, Member of the Delegation of Denmark to the OEEC Signing of the EPU Agreement, Paris, 19 September 1950 © OECD/OCDE

8. …and only settle at the end of the evening. …et de ne les solder qu’en fin de soirée. Frei de Andrade, Head of the Delegation of Portugal to the OEEC Signing of the EPU Agreement, Paris, 19 September 1950 © OECD/OCDE

9. Only the players who are net losers will play… Seuls ceux qui finissent perdants auront à payer… H. Ellis Rees, Head of the Delegation of the United Kingdom to the OEEC Signing of the EPU Agreement, Paris, 19 September 1950 © OECD/OCDE

10. …only the net winners will receive. …seuls ceux qui finissent gagnants percevront quelque chose. Herbert Prack, President and Head of the Delegation of Austria to the OEEC Signing of the EPU Agreement, Paris, 19 September 1950 © OECD/OCDE

11. The man who has lost as much as he has won will neither pay nor receive. Celui qui perd autant qu’il gagne ne paiera ni ne recevra rien. Karl von Mangoldt, Head of the Delegation of Germany to the OEEC Signing of the EPU Agreement, Paris, 19 September 1950 © OECD/OCDE

12. The first method, settlement at the end of each rubber, is like a bilateral payments system. La première méthode, solder les comptes à la fin de chaque partie, est un système de paiement bilatéral. Nicolas Hommel, Head of the Delegation of Luxembourg to the OEEC Signing of the EPU Agreement, Paris, 19 September 1950 © OECD/OCDE

13. Settlement between net winners and net losers is like a multilateral system.” Solder les comptes entre gagnants et perdants est comme un système multilatéral. » Petur Benediktsson, Head of the Delegation of Iceland to the OEEC Signing of the EPU Agreement, Paris, 19 September 1950 © OECD/OCDE

14. OEEC (1950), Press Release, Press D (50) 14, OEEC, Paris. OECE (1950), Communiqué de presse, Press D (50) 14, OECE, Paris. Torfini Offedal, Member of the Delegation of Norway to the OEEC Signing of the EPU Agreement, Paris, 19 September 1950 © OECD/OCDE

18. OECD Library & Archives _____________________________________________________________________ Further information about knowledge and information management related work at the OECD can be found at www.oecd.org/libraryandarchives ©Marshall Plan Foundation/OEEC-OECD/OCDE