After the fun - the real challenge

After less than a year, the Euronet restaurant in the basement of the European Monetary Institute tower in Frankfurt has been forced to close. Star Catalan architect Alfredo Arribas had hoped to initiate Frankfurt's moneymen into his modernist philosophy of cavernous interior design and communal seating at long tables, as in his vogueish eateries in Barcelona and London. But the restaurant's nearest neighbours shunned it, preferring the honest grub of Medius Keller, the cosy German pub across the street. After a long day's work Europe's future central bankers were underwhelmed by the Euronet's office-style furniture and brittle atmosphere.

For the past four years adventurous economic debate, not designer chic, has been the Zeitgeist at the EMI. Economists from 15 central banks have come here thrilled by the challenge of designing a new monetary policy framework and central banking operation for the whole of the European Union. Some describe it as...