Ardo Hansson: Celebrating the tenth anniversary of Estonia’s accession to NATO and EU Opening speech for Europe Day by Mr Ardo Hansson, Governor of the Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank), at the Seminar on the impact of the European Union on Estonia, Eesti Pank, Tallinn, 9 May 2014. *  *  *  Today we are celebrating Europe Day. We have just passed the tenth anniversary of Estonia’s accession to the European Union, though the move towards Europe had started when the country regained its independence and linked the Estonian kroon to the German mark. To people in Estonia, being part of Europe means democracy, freedom, security and well-being. Closer integration with the European Union has been driven by the desire to ensure that these benefits are maintained. These core European values remain more in the background in our everyday life as we take them for granted, but events in Ukraine have given a sharp reminder of their importance. Accession to the EU has increased Estonia’s influence on the world. Estonia’s voice is heard better in Europe than ever before and Estonia is involved in setting the joint economic policy of Europe and the euro area. This gives us the power to affect processes ourselves, and the responsibility to do our work as well as possible and to answer for the results. As the central bank of the Republic of Estonia and a member of the Eurosystem, Eesti Pank has also contributed to the sustainable development and increased prosperity of the Estonian economy.

The geographical proximity and cultural similarities have been reinforced by the diverse strengths that exists in the region. These factors have been important in enhancing the integration process. As this greater regional economic and financial integration is advanced, it will serve as a powerful catalyst for the future expansion of intra-regional trade and investment, creating a self-sustaining and mutually reinforcing economic growth in the New Nusantara region. Ladies and gentlemen: It is my pleasure today to speak on the potential role of an integrated economic and financial platform within the Nusantara region, a region of rapid economic growth in which almost 300 million Muslims resides. My remarks will focus on the potential generated by a collaborative platform and the significance of building linkages between the Nusantara region with other parts of the world. The region's current economic progress, prosperity and financial stability has now accorded us a new strategic window of opportunity to develop new value propositions to unleash the full potential accorded by the accelerating economic and financial integration process. There are already encouraging formal and informal inter linkages between our respective financial markets as well as a higher level of engagement between the respective corporate communities, the market participants and the authorities. A collaborative platform that is based on the diverse comparative advantages of the Nusantara economies can benefit from the complementarities between our respective economies. Essentially, these opportunities will increase the potential to expand markets, increase products lines and deepen the research and development capabilities.