VI Among the participating national central banks, the Bundesbank is the one that has seen the greatest changes induced by the changeover to a truly European currency. Before EMU, the Bundesbank had effectively – although not formally – been the central bank deciding the monetary policy for much of Europe.
The Deutschmark was the key currency in Europe, and the second most important currency in the world. To this day, the Deutschmark is a byword for stability. Now the Deutschmark is history, and the German central bank is an integral part of the supranational European System of Central Banks. The Bundesbank has been very active in the process of designing the ESCB.