ewald nowotny : toward a genuine economic and monetary union opening remarks by prof dr ewald nowotny, governor of the central bank of the republic of austria, at the workshop “ toward a genuine economic and monetary union ”, vienna, 10 september 2015. * * * dear colleagues, dear paul, dear otmar, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to welcome you here in vienna to today ’ s and tomorrow ’ s workshop, hosted by the oesterreichische nationalbank and organized in cooperation with the euro50 group, a network of leading experts and policymakers in the field of european monetary integration. obviously, the title of our workshop, “ toward a genuine economic and monetary union, ” implies that economic and monetary union, or emu for short, is not genuine yet. but despite all its deficiencies, let us not forget that emu and the euro are major achievements. for its member countries, emu has anchored price stability and increased cross - border trade and financial integration. even during the financial crisis, the number of countries sharing the euro increased to nineteen, and is set to grow further. for the european union as a whole, the single currency is a symbol of a peaceful europe, a keystone of economic integration and political unity. and for the world, the euro has become a major player in the international monetary system and the global economy. yet, during the global financial crisis, emu was seriously put to the test. the fact that the socalled “ sovereign ” debt crisis ( which incidentally had also been caused by private debt accumulation ) occurred in europe and not in other regions with even higher debt levels is certainly related to the incomplete institutional setting of emu. while the monetary part of emu was fully implemented in 1999, the economic counterpart is still an unfinished business. but how can we ensure the smooth functioning of emu? the recently published five presidents ’ report “ completing europe ’ s economic and monetary union ” tries to address this question. the five presidents in question are those of the european commission, the european council, the eurogroup, the european central bank and the european parliament. their proposals rest on four pillars : first, an economic union that promotes convergence, prosperity and social cohesion ; second, a financial union that integrates banking and capital markets regulation ; third, a fiscal union that guarantees sound public households ; and fourth, a political union that strengthens democratic accountability, legitimacy and institution building. as an aside

decision and leadership from both asean and the eu. from the proceedings of the conference, it seems to me that there may be a need to develop a more entrenched mechanism to leverage further on our respective core capabilities and which seeks to find simpler, faster and more effective ways that would enhance our joint endeavours. a combination of insights, leadership, technical capacity and adequate preparation needs to be channeled into a general enthusiasm for both our regions to rise to the potential challenges and in the process become greater partners for success. in summary, the future direction of the asean - eu relations will be dependent on several multidimensional facets that would include : the changing strategic landscape amidst globalisation, asean's and the eu's desire to play a greater role in the global economy and international affairs, the eu's ability in managing its enlargement process, and asean's commitment to forge greater regional integration. i am certain that the passage of time and closer analyses of the issues discussed at this conference will yield more lessons that we could take to heart in making progress on expanding asean - eu economic and financial links. it is my hope that in the future we can continue to have such constructive exchanges of views and experiences that will further nourish the broader learning environment. in closing, allow me to thank the speakers for enriching the conference with their presence and their cutting - edge perspectives. i also wish to again thank the european commission for giving bank 1 / 2 negara the opportunity to co - host this conference. to all our participants from abroad, we hope you stay in kuala lumpur has been pleasant, and we wish you a safe journey home. 2 / 2