Mario Draghi: Response on receipt of an Honorary Doctorate from
Tel Aviv University
Speech by Mr Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, on the receipt of an
Honorary Doctorate from Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 18 May 2017.
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Ladies and gentlemen,
It is my privilege to speak to you tonight, on behalf of all those whom you distinguished by
awarding an honorary doctorate of the University of Tel Aviv.
We come from different fields of human endeavour. Politics, policy, business, history and of
course fundamental research. Our achievements are diverse. But they are all based on careful
accumulation, experimentation and exploitation of knowledge. Knowledge created and fostered
by universities such as yours.
And I cannot but detect the profound influence of this search for knowledge in my memory of
recent events. The eruption of the global financial crisis in 2008, and the subsequent sovereign
debt crisis in Europe, caused a deep recession worldwide, a sharp increase in unemployment
and exposed the incompleteness of some parts of the EU institutional architecture. Fertile
conditions to give voice to populist and nationalistic rhetoric.
But that period of crisis was also conducive to improving our understanding of economic and
political forces, and to translating this new knowledge into action. The crisis has thus resulted in
a form of creative destruction, where established paradigms have been critically revisited, where
flawed practices have been exposed and replaced by sounder ones and where new research
addressed previously neglected aspects of our societies. This renewed effort has both greatly
deepened our understanding of economics and shaped our policy response.
The crisis is now behind us. The recovery in the euro area is resilient and is increasingly
broadbased across countries and sectors. Domestic demand, supported by the ECB's monetary
policy, is the mainstay of that recovery. Five million more people are employed now than were in
2013, and unemployment though still too high is at an eight-year low. Worldwide, the financial
sector is now more resilient. The global economic outlook is also improving, and downside risks
are moderating.
However, what we need in Europe to ensure that economic growth and higher prosperity is
sustained through time are structural reforms and a renewed sense of purpose for the EU.
Started in the aftermath of the Second World War, European integration was the response to
citizens' desperate need for peace. The system of treaties between governments that had
dominated European relations between the two wars and even before had utterly failed to deliver
what governments are mainly for: security and prosperity. Pooling sovereignty on issues of direct
common interest became the new basis for cooperation between the European nations. At the
time such a project seemed bold and optimistic - just as calling for further, deeper integration
seems bold and optimistic today. But our founders were right. Europe has delivered peace,
prosperity and political stability for a period of time that has no precedents in its modern history.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome that created the European Union and
the 25th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty that created the Monetary Union.
Further progress is needed. The institutional architecture of the Economic and Monetary Union
remains incomplete in a number of aspects. The crisis has exposed structural weaknesses in
our construction and has forced us to address them. The repair has started with the creation of
the banking union.
But the work is far from over and the challenges we face go beyond Economic and Monetary
Union. They pertain to security, migration, defence, and generally all those challenges that can be
addressed only by pooling sovereignty. And these challenges are greater than in the past.
Today we can sense a rising wave of energy in demanding joint European action. The European
Union and the euro always commanded the support of the majority of European citizens, but,
often, it was only the vocal opposition that was heard. Now this silent majority has regained its
voice, its pride, and its self-confidence. Only by working together can the nations of Europe
overcome these challenges. The opportunity for progress is real.
Values and judgement lie at the heart of all our undertakings. But they need to be supported by
continuing research, ever increasing knowledge, and uncompromising examination of facts. This
was true in addressing the great financial crisis, designing and implementing policies that
improve the world economy and building institutions that deliver peace and prosperity in Europe.
But it is also true in all the fields represented today by my fellow recipients. That is why we must
be grateful to all places of knowledge, and today to the University of Tel Aviv.
Thank you once more, not only for the honour that you are bestowing upon us, but also for your
ongoing contribution to our common good.