willem f duisenberg : the euro as a catalyst for european integration speech by dr willem f duisenberg, president of the european central bank, on the occasion of the conference " one money, one euregional market ", maastricht, 6 february 2002. * * * dear governor of the province of limburg, dear mr. mayor, dear rector magnificus of maastricht university, dear dean of the faculty of economics and business administration, honoured speakers, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honour for me to receive the biennial prize of the faculty of economics and business administration of maastricht university, and to deliver a short address at this conference today ; a conference organised on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the treaty on european union, better known as the " treaty of maastricht ". i should also like to thank the speakers for their kind words. sometimes it was even difficult to recognise myself in them. i should like to note today, on the eve of the treaty's anniversary, that the establishment of economic and monetary union and the introduction of the euro would not have been possible without this treaty. hence, allow me to say that i accept this prize also on its behalf. indeed, together with the treaties founding the european communities, the maastricht treaty is one of the most important and visionary legal texts in the history of european integration. it has delivered tangible proof – the euro – of the vision and ambition of the founding fathers of the european integration process, which continues to bring the people of europe closer together by fostering economic integration. the importance of " maastricht " for the process of monetary integration in europe has also inspired the governing council of the ecb to hold one of its two yearly meetings outside frankfurt in this city. the governing council will meet tomorrow in the very place where – in december 1991 – the european council concluded the negotiations on the maastricht treaty. i should also like to compliment maastricht university and the city of maastricht on the research project, initiated by them, focusing on the impact of the introduction of the euro on euregional integration. indeed, the border regions of europe have often been the testing grounds of the european integration process. they have also played a key role in initiating and promoting that process. one of the important conclusions – in my view at least – of the research project " one money, one euregion " is that

markets and not follow all their fluctuations. excessive volatility is not good because it is a sign of uncertainty. there is a new situation now. market liquidity, the facility to buy and sell without affecting prices too much, is reduced after the crisis. market makers have reduced their inventories. business seems to be less profitable. regulatory reforms made liquidity a bit less cheap. markets are adjusting to this situation and that can lead to volatility. are capital controls compatible with monetary union? they are temporary. the situation in greece after the agreement on the programme, has stabilized. we would expect the new government will show strong ownership of the bis central bankers ’ speeches programme. the situation of liquidity of the banking sector has improved in greece after the agreement was reached. the stage is set for a gradual dismantling of the capital controls. they will be eliminated as they were in cyprus. are you confident the imf will join a bailout for greece? the imf has endorsed the policies that were included in the memorandum. to join a new programme, the imf has two conditions : one about debt sustainability and the other on ownership of the programme by the greek authorities. regarding the debt sustainability analysis, the discussions will take place at the time of the first review. you have seen various analyses showing that you cannot just consider the debt sustainability analysis in terms of debt ratios. a big part of the greek debt is under concessional terms for quite a period of time. everyone expects convergence of analysis will be possible. a haircut has been refused by the member states and i certainly hope it will not be necessary in view of the numbers. the more one digs into the numbers, the more that sort of conclusion seems to emerge. that ’ s a matter for the negotiations. bis central bankers ’ speeches