willem f duisenberg : maastricht and the future of europe speech by dr willem f duisenberg, president of the european central bank, at the presentation of a stamp commemorating the ten - year anniversary of the maastricht treaty, bundesfinanzministerium, berlin, 22 october 2003. * * * dr eichel, dr genscher, dr waigel, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honour for me to make one of my final public appearances as president of the european central bank on the occasion of the launch of a “ sonderpostwertzeichen ” - a special stamp - to commemorate the treaty on european union, better known as the maastricht treaty. it is not as a dutchman that i consider this treaty to be one of the most important milestones of the european integration process, but as a truly convinced european. together with the governing council of the ecb, i have been responsible for managing the single monetary policy and the single currency of the euro area, and i will not deny that my job has been inextricably linked to the wider historical process of building an “ ever closer union ” of the peoples of europe. in this respect, i consider that the maastricht treaty embodies the most decisive impulse in the deepening of the european communities established in the 1950s and strengthened by the treaty of rome. the move to economic and monetary union ( emu ) was a profoundly political act - despite the fact that the underlying rationale was predominantly economic, namely that a single market requires a single currency. having been instrumental in laying the foundations for the euro, the principles of the maastricht treaty will remain vital for the successful functioning of emu. the medium - term macroeconomic policy framework laid down in the maastricht treaty has contributed to a stable macroeconomic environment, and will continue to do so. in addition, the treaty provides for a clear allocation of responsibilities between eu institutions and member states, as well as clear mandates for all involved. the maintenance of price stability ( the ecb ’ s primary objective ), the independence of the eurosystem and the provisions safeguarding fiscal discipline, in particular as enshrined in the stability and growth pact, are among the hallmarks of this framework. furthermore, the path towards participation in the euro area mapped out in the maastricht treaty, focusing on sustainable economic convergence as

and a lack of liquidity in the ﬁnancial system might dangerously aggravate the crisis. adverse feedback loops between the economy and the ﬁnancial system could also pose a risk to price stability. that is why the eurosystem responded quickly in spring with a whole bunch of measures. this contribution to stabilisation in the crisis was and is important. however, ﬁscal policy has taken the lead. and quite rightly so. it has both the democratic legitimacy for heavy interventions and the custom - ﬁt instruments. lockdowns and voluntary social distancing led to massive revenue shortfalls in some industries. these shortfalls can disrupt the overall ﬂow of payments in the economy and severely constrain the spending of many households and ﬁrms. fiscal policy, unlike monetary policy, can address this problem in a targeted manner by substituting lost income with transfers. now, the pandemic has forcefully resurged and stricter containment measures are back in force in many places, including germany. clearly, this will place a strain on the economy in the current quarter. the ﬁrst wave of the pandemic has showed in some countries that, even in the absence of tight government restrictions, the economy suffers as people become more cautious on their own account. this time, the economic fallout is likely to be less severe than in spring, since the containment measures are more targeted and ﬁrms have gained experience. we have also learned that, when the protective measures were relaxed and people regained their conﬁdence, the economy quickly revived. the rebound in summer was, in fact, signiﬁcantly stronger than expected. on the other hand, it may take a while until covid - 19 is contained in a sustained manner. from today ’ s point of view, a succession of lockdowns and subsequent resurgences cannot be ruled out. to protect the economy beyond the very short term, it is imperative that the pandemic be kept in check and eventually overcome. moreover, ﬁscal policymakers need to ensure that a quick and strong recovery is possible again by stabilising the economy now, supporting a rebound and counteracting second - round effects. in particular, a broad wave of corporate insolvencies would cost jobs and destroy production capacity for good. it could also spill over to the banking sector by way of rising credit defaults. through lending constraints, it could have repercussions for the real economy. in spring