Speech (extract) by Wim Duisenberg

Speech (extract) by Wim Duisenberg

‘For more than a decade now, monetary union has been a focus of public attention and a major issue of public debate. The depth of feeling generated by the euro, whether enthusiasm or hostility, has been far greater than what we are used to in this typically unglamorous field of economic management that is monetary policy. […] The first, money itself, is the contract that creates ties between the people of the euro area—and also forges links with all other users of the euro, wherever they may be. Even through the euro has formally existed for more than three years, the reality of this contract has only been fully understood with the arrival of euro banknotes and coins. The banknotes, in their own way, are a physical manifestation of the social contract that is money. Thus, the euro is the symbol of the European Union, understood as a community of people.’