Historical Archives of the European Union - European University Institute
Travelling Exhibition on the Occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Treaties of Rome
'EVER CLOSER UNION'
The Legacy of the Treaties of Rome for Today's Europe
Remarks by Fabio Panetta
Deputy Governor of the Bank of Italy
I am delighted to speak at this commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome,
which established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy
Community.
Rome is not only the place where the European project came into being, but also the city that gave
Europe its first 'economic and monetary union', more than 20 centuries ago. Indeed, if Emperor
Augustus could be with us today, he would probably ask: 'What have you guys been doing all this
time? You are still at the point where we left you two thousand years ago!'
But the Emperor would be wrong. The 'monetary union' of the ancient Romans emerged through
war, conquest and prevarication; ours is based on peace, political consensus and shared welfare.
In fact, we have progressed a lot from where the ancient Romans left us.
The EEC Treaty was signed on March 25th, 1957, in the Palazzo dei Conservatori. It was an
economic compact intended to transform European trade and manufacturing, but also to
contribute to the construction of a political Europe. In the preamble, the signatories of the Treaty
declared that they were:
- resolved to ensure the economic and social progress of their countries by common action to
eliminate the barriers which divide Europe, [...]
- anxious to strengthen the unity of their economies and to ensure their harmonious
development by reducing the differences existing between the various regions, [...]
- resolved by thus pooling their resources to preserve and strengthen peace and liberty.
These objectives were pursued by creating a common market and a customs union and by
developing common policies. The framers of the Treaty were fully aware of the difficulties that the
path towards a united Europe would encounter. The presence of less developed regions, with low
incomes and inadequate infrastructures, was definitely a cause of concern.
For this reason the Rome Treaty foresaw the establishment of the European Social Fund and of the
European Investment Bank, in order to provide financial support and reduce regional disparities.
For many years, the development of the European project contributed to economic growth in the
Member States: the progressive abolition of tariffs favoured specialization, made it possible to
reap the benefits of scale economies and stimulated efficiency and competition, with positive
effects on employment and welfare.
The EEC subsequently evolved into the EU, becoming an area where Member States cooperate on
a wide set of policies and citizens enjoy freedom and peace. In 1999 we introduced the euro, and
even during the crisis we accomplished a lot in terms of deepening the Union.
And yet, this anniversary takes place in a period of heightened uncertainty. The anxieties
generated by the crisis and geopolitical tensions - including the large migrant flows and civil war in
nearby countries - have aroused uneasy sentiments among European citizens, thus giving further
ammunition to anti-European movements, and narrowing the focus of the economic and political
debate to mostly domestic and short-term issues.
The divergent views of the Member States on fundamental issues - from migration to economic
policy - weaken the EU in the eyes of the international community and in those of European
citizens. The reaction of public opinion has been one of concern and rejection. The European
project is sometimes perceived as a bureaucratic superstructure and a source of redundant
regulations; it is seen more and more as part of the problem, less and less as the solution. Should
this situation persist, the future of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), and even of the EU
itself, cannot - and should not - be taken for granted.
In my opinion, the necessary ingredients to strengthen the European project are precisely those
that inspired the choices of the founding fathers. First, an unfailing faith in the importance of
European integration. As Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, has asked European
leaders, somewhat rhetorically: 'If we do not believe in ourselves, in the deeper purpose of
integration, why should anyone else?'
Second, it must be clear that, as President Draghi recently affirmed, for the EMU to be viable
'Members have to be better off inside than they would be outside...If there are parts of the euro
area that are worse off inside the Union, doubts may grow about whether they might ultimately
have to leave'.
Finally, we must be able to design and put in place institutional arrangements and policies to
address the pragmatic and pressing needs of all European citizens.
With these objectives in mind, we must admit that up to now we have not been able to claim
success. True, during the financial crisis European institutions and Member States have
demonstrated their willingness to invest in the European project. Measures have been taken to
strengthen the EMU, such as the establishment of the ESM, the launch of the Banking Union, the
introduction of new budgetary rules and the extension of multilateral supervision to macro
imbalances.
However, what we have done so far is not enough. Those measures were often enacted in
emergency conditions, and risked producing overlaps, redundancies and sometimes genuine
mistakes. In effect, the reaction to the crisis relied almost exclusively on monetary policy. The ECB
acted boldly to preserve price stability and to support the real economy. In the absence of its
monetary policy measures, economic conditions would have been much worse, possibly leading to
a deflationary spiral.
Going forward, it will be necessary to increase the incentives for reform and the coordination of
economic and structural policies, and shift from an intergovernmental form of management based
on the peer review of national policies to the formulation of genuinely common policies. The plan
published by the European Commission in November 2012 and the report of the President of the
European Council in June of the same year set the stage for a further strengthening of the EMU.
The SSM has been a success story. It rapidly became operational in supervising the largest banks
and, in the euro area, it has contributed to stabilization, which is a prerequisite for economic
growth. However, the Banking Union is still incomplete due to disagreement on the next steps to
be taken. The Capital Markets Union is still embryonic, in spite of the fact that the free movement
of capital is a long-standing objective of the European Union, dating back to the Treaty of Rome.
Finally, some form of fiscal capacity at the euro-area level would improve the management of
cyclical conditions in various economies and in the euro area overall. To be fully effective, it would
require the introduction of common debt instruments.
But, in order to move forward in the integration process we need, above all, to rebuild mutual
trust, both at the political level and among citizens. The first step must be to tackle the
weaknesses of individual countries, but such an effort must be sustained by progress in the
European construction.
This is a demanding agenda, but as the late President of the Italian Republic, Ciampi, noted about
thirty years ago 'for the civilization to which we belong [European integration] is the only way to
avoid losing the thread that was broken by two world wars and retied by those with the vision to
imagine Europe as a community.' Without an integrated Europe, we may not be able to influence
global phenomena such as migration, terrorism, climate change or the vagaries of an increasingly
interconnected economy.
Returning to my starting point, in order to make our way forward we may need to look back at our
history, cherish the good we see in the past and jettison the bad. The Roman 'economic and
monetary union' was strong because it was backed by political union, and we should strive to
achieve such a union - by peaceful means, of course; at the same time it was weak, because it was
designed for the benefit of a few to the detriment of many, a mistake that we should certainly try
to avoid today.