willem f duisenberg : the european central bank, the eurosystem and the european system of central banks speech delivered by dr willem f duisenberg, president of the european central bank, at the ceremony to inaugurate the new building of the banque centrale du luxembourg, luxembourg, 18 may 2001. * * * your royal highness, prime minister, governor mersch, distinguished guests, allow me first to congratulate you on the inauguration of the new premises of the banque centrale du luxembourg. you decided to name parts of them – very appropriately, i find – after pierre werner, the author of the first blueprint for economic and monetary union in europe. his report of 1970 laid the conceptual foundations for many aspects of the institutional set - up and policy framework of today's european central bank ( ecb ) and european system of central banks ( escb ). most significantly, werner presented a lucid account of a fundamental requirement of monetary unification in europe : no single currency without a common central bank, or rather a " community system of central banks ", as he called it. the distinctly federal character of what werner saw as the future european monetary authority was in itself a reflection of the fact that europe is not a single nation, but a group of nations. twenty years later, the treaty on european union established the european system of central banks, with the european central bank at its core, and transferred to it the task of conducting a single monetary policy. in addition, the authors of the treaty recognised that a functioning monetary union requires centralised decision - making and harmonised governance over all those tasks which are closely related to monetary policy. consequently, responsibility for the management of foreign exchange reserves, for activities to support the oversight of payment systems, for the collection of euro area - wide statistics, for measures to ensure financial stability and for the issuance of banknotes has also been assigned to the escb. at this point, i should like to clarify that, for as long as there are eu member states outside the euro area, all these tasks are being carried out by what we call the eurosystem, rather than by the escb as a whole. the eurosystem comprises the ecb and the national central banks ( ncbs ) of the euro area member states. the eurosystem's clearly defined policy responsibilities, together with its independence, the strict orientation of monetary policy to stability and the federal institutional model could be regarded as the cornerstone

both the public and private sectors are contributing to this important communication effort by conveying information on euro banknotes and coins to their staff, customers and other target groups. we have over 2, 600 organisations which have signed a partnership agreement with the ecb and the 12 national central banks of the euro area. i would also like to stress that the media are receiving special attention in the campaign. for them, we have produced a total of six media kits, each marking a specific milestone in the countdown to the euro. these have been, and will be, distributed to more than 3000 media companies in the euro area in the course of 2001. the media kit marking today ’ s milestone, is e - 100 [ “ e minus one hundred ” ], or 100 days to go, and focuses on the final visual appearance of the euro banknotes and their security features. furthermore, we are paying particular attention in the campaign to vulnerable groups who need and will receive tailor - made information and training. we have now reached the crucial period in terms of communication on the euro. our mass media campaign, with tv and print adverts across the euro area and beyond, has just been launched. the communication offensive will continue into the first weeks of 2002, when the changeover will be taking place and people will have the euro banknotes and coins in their hands and pockets. they will then be more receptive to messages about the euro. in finland, you can watch our tv commercials for the very first time today, and see our print adverts as from 3 october. the creative concept here focuses on the positive spirit which comes from being part of a broad community with a single currency, and is reflected in the slogan, the euro. our money. because we cannot afford to miss a single opportunity to inform three hundred million europeans, two hundred million public information leaflets, in 11 languages, have been produced, enough for every household in the euro area. the leaflet is entitled getting ready for the euro, and shows the euro banknotes, with details of the security features and of the changeover plan for each country. the leaflet is tailored to the needs and circumstances of each country and will be distributed by the national central banks through a variety of channels. i would also like to mention our initiative to help the children of the euro area learn about euro banknotes and coins. seven million posters, each including a competition designed to raise awareness of the euro, will soon be sent to primary schools.