christian noyer : where are we 11 months before e - day? speech delivered by christian noyer, vice - president of the european central bank, on the occasion of the forum " tremplin pour l'euro " in courchevel, france, on 2 february 2001 * * * ladies and gentlemen, just over two years ago, the european union adopted its own single currency. less than 11 months from today, we will be paying with euro banknotes and coins in our everyday transactions. by many measures, this development could justifiably be considered an achievement of historic proportions. with the arrival of euro banknotes and coins, the process of introducing a single european currency initiated in maastricht in 1991 will finally be complete. today, the minds of european central bankers, the banking community and many other interested parties are certainly focused on the immense organisational and logistical task entailed by the cash changeover. allow me nevertheless to briefly reflect on some of the developments that the euro has already triggered. first of all, the irrevocable fixing of exchange rates between the participating currencies and the introduction of the euro on 1 january 1999 can rightly be considered as the " crowning " of the single market. the euro is indeed " one money for one market ", as the studies supporting the original delors report succinctly put it. the euro has undoubtedly become an important catalyst in promoting the further integration of product and capital markets of euro area economies. more importantly, the policy - makers in the member states have realised that being part of a monetary union will not only produce substantial economic benefits. it also imposes certain constraints on their own policies. rigidities in labour and product markets, inappropriate fiscal policies and fragmented regulatory frameworks all have a negative impact on the economic conditions, proper functioning and growth potential of the euro area as a whole. tackling these challenges has become a clear political priority over the last few years. the ecb's success in maintaining price stability has certainly provided - and continues to provide - a crucial foundation for these efforts, by stabilising inflation expectations and instilling a " stability consensus " across europe. in this sense, the euro is one factor which is continuing to push euro area economies towards more balanced budgets and greater competitiveness. another important aspect of the transformation of the european economy that has been stimulated by the advent of the single currency is the increasing financial integration within the euro area. indeed, from

, a centralised organisation of preparations would not have been feasible and was therefore ruled out from the start. rather, it was deemed appropriate to devolve responsibility for the organisation of the various contributions. this decentralised approach certainly has its advantages. it allows, within the agreed overall framework, for tailor - made solutions specific to each national environment. at the same time, it makes a clear assignment of responsibilities particularly crucial. i will not go into detail as concerns the changeover to the euro as a unit of account, because the responsibility for this clearly lies with the governments. but this does represent a large task since it concerns all public and private legal acts, administrations, companies and households. much responsibility therefore rests with the national administrations of the member states. they have to create the conditions by, amongst other things, adapting relevant legislation and administrative procedures so that, in all respects, businesses, consumers and the public at large are ready and able to change over to the euro, including as regards the use of the new banknotes and coins. the european commission and the eurogroup are monitoring the state of these preparations. nonetheless, the responsibility for implementation rests clearly with the member states, which have set up comprehensive national changeover plans. i might also mention that member states'governments are also responsible for the minting of some 50 billion euro coins. for its part, the eurosystem has the task of producing the 14. 5 billion euro banknotes and making them available to the banking sector. in addition to this, although not directly responsible, the ecb naturally attaches great importance to a smooth and well - prepared changeover in every aspect. to this end, the ecb and the national central banks of the euro area have endorsed a number of general principles, concerning, for example, the frontloading and sub - frontloading of the euro banknotes and coins. given the devolution of responsibilities for the cash changeover, such general principles are important to ensure a level playing - field and to avoid competitive distortions. also important is the common schedule for the changeover. this sets specific dates for the various stages of the process, which need to be respected by all concerned. there are, of course, three important dates which i would like to briefly recall : • the first of these is 1 september this year, the date on which each national central bank may begin " frontloading " euro banknotes and coins to credit institutions and other target groups. however, this period can