Andreas Dombret: In the heart of Europe - Europe in our hearts
Welcoming address by Dr Andreas Dombret, Member of the Executive Board of the
Deutsche Bundesbank, to mark the unveiling of the plaque listing patrons for the euro sign,
Frankfurt am Main, 4 February 2016.
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1. Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen
I am extremely pleased that you are joining me in celebrating a very special occasion today -
the unveiling of the plaque listing patrons of the euro sculpture.
When you think of Frankfurt, what comes to mind? Perhaps the city's famous historical
landmarks, such as the Römer (city hall) or St. Paul's? Or the skyline, featuring its many
skyscrapers? Football fans may think of Attila, the eagle, worn proudly on players' shirts of
Eintracht Frankfurt. You might also think of Goethe, the Old Opera House, the Main river,
Germany's largest airport, and so on. All this is Frankfurt; our city is veritably full of
worldrenowned landmarks.
However, I'm sure that quite a few of us also have in our mind's eye the euro sculpture,
which has graced the Willy-Brandt-Platz square between the opera house and the Eurotower
since the euro was launched - and is thus located right in the heart this city. Much as
Frankfurt itself is located in the geographic heart of Europe.
2. In the heart of Europe
For nearly 15 years, the euro sculpture stood guard before the European Central Bank,
making it clear to all visitors that they were standing at the heart of Europe. The sculpture
has certainly seen a great deal in that time. When its lights came on for the first time in 2001,
the euro area comprised only 12 member states; the number has now risen to a total of 19.
The average forex trading volume that changed hands every day between traders round the
world amounted to some €450 billion in 2001; it now stands at €1.7 trillion according to the
latest available figures. The euro is undoubtedly the world's second most important currency
after the US dollar.
Yet it has not always been smooth sailing. We all remember the sometimes dramatic events
in connection with the recent financial crisis, which dealt a significant blow to the euro area
and, in some cases, raised massive doubts about the continued existence of our single
currency. It was not least these events which also led to the activists of the Occupy
movement, in 2011, pitching camp in the shadow of the euro sculpture, where they held out
for more than a year - even as their political message was fading into the background as
time passed by.
However, that is all history now. The euro area has returned to stability, even though we
cannot yet say with certainty that the crisis has been entirely overcome. The ECB has long
since taken up residence in Frankfurt's Ostend district, and the last traces of the Occupy
activists have been gone for quite a while. And yet it is right that the euro sculpture will be
marking the centre of our monetary union, now and in the future. For, after all, the monetary
union no longer rests solely on monetary policy.
Around one and a half years ago, the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) for Europe's
banks was launched, heralding a key step towards the completion of this monetary union.
You see, the financial crisis exposed the weaknesses of our existing framework. One such
weakness was the tendency of national supervisors to train their sights primarily on the
institutions based in their own jurisdiction, meaning that risk that spilled over to other
countries sometimes went undetected until it was too late. The SSM is addressing this
problem by taking an explicitly European approach and comparing banks from different
countries, for example. In addition, the SSM prevents banks in different countries from being
supervised with varying degrees of strictness because, for instance, national supervisory
regimes are too heavily influenced by national interests.
This means that the SSM is, in many ways, impressive. One aspect sets it apart from
everything else, however. Never before have sovereign states merged their banking
supervisory functions in an independent agency. Our experience of the first year of SSM has
been quite positive - especially if one stops to think of the magnitude of this project and how
short the preparation time was prior to getting the SSM actually up and running. There is
room for improvement in some areas, of course, but the SSM has already earned the respect
of the institutions it supervises today.
Our SSM colleagues are sitting today in the Japan Center, not far from here, and in future
will be supervising the euro area's largest banks from the Eurotower - where, every day, the
euro sculpture will make it clear to them what they are working for: a stable euro area, home
to some 340 million people.
3. Europe in our hearts
Hans-Dietrich Genscher once said that "Europe is our future, we have no other." Europe
belongs to Frankfurt like almost no other city, apart from Brussels and Strasbourg. The euro
sculpture has taken its place alongside the ECB, the SSM, EIOPA and also the Bundesbank
as an expression of this belonging. Thanks to your support, the sculpture is now shining
again in due splendour. I personally wish to thank all of you very sincerely - and I firmly
believe that, in expressing my gratitude, I also speak for many of Frankfurt's residents as well
as its innumerable international visitors. It remains to be hoped that Europe, too, will shine in
future with the same lustre as the restored euro sculpture. Let us all do what we can to
achieve this goal going forward.
Thank you very much.