major challenges to face, two more that the other industrialised countries. all these challenges are exciting, all stem from important successes – scientific progress, the economic take - off of big developing countries, progress in medicine, the deepening of the pacific unity of europe, the fall of the iron curtain – but these challenges are also demanding and difficult. after the french referendum and before the dutch referendum, we are facing today a difficult moment for europe and for our 458 million european fellow citizens. it is not the first time, and probably not the last time. in his memoirs jean monnet, whose ideas and action are at the roots of the european endeavour writes : “ those who do not want to start an endeavour because they are not fully sure that things will go as they have planned in advance, are condemning themselves to be immobile. ” i am sure that europeans will together find the way allowing them to overcome present difficulties as they did it in the past. the european central bank has a clear mandate given by the maastricht treaty. it preserves today and will preserve tomorrow, as it did in the past, price stability and confidence in the currency, which are necessary conditions to sustainable growth and job creations. confidence is a key word in present circumstances. europeans can rely on the ecb and on the eurosystem as a whole to preserve and consolidate this confidence. i thank you for your attention.

that the eu enlargement will contribute positively to economic growth and welfare in the eu as a whole. it will provide new opportunities to trade and investment flows. the enlargement of the internal market will strengthen the degree of competition as the accession of the new member states has increased the number of suppliers within the internal market. in addition, enlargement has enhanced the scope for economies of scale, as the extension of the internal market increased the size of the market available to suppliers. this should translate in lower prices and increased productivity, thereby contributing to a higher potential growth. however, these benefits will not be realised automatically. again, in this respect too, there are substantial benefits associated with the implementation of structural reforms. in particular, a forceful and prompt completion of the enlarged internal market in both the old and the new member states is essential to fully exploit the benefits of the present enlargement. let me say a few words on the erm ii membership which has already been decided for six currencies out of the ten currencies of the new member states. having proceeded with the necessary structural adjustments, participation in erm ii can be an important means of anchoring exchange rate and inflation expectations, and of promoting discipline. it can help orient macroeconomic policies to stability, while at the same time allowing for a degree of flexibility, if needed, through the wide standard fluctuation band and the possibility of adjusting the central parity. in any case, there is not a uniform path to the adoption of the euro and each country will be judged on its own merits before adopting the euro. and, as required by the treaty, the sustainable convergence of the economies concerned will be carefully checked both in the interest of the country concerned and in the interest of the euro area as a whole. fiscal discipline finally, i would like to discuss another major challenge that europe is going to have to face over the next 50 years : an ageing population. a few figures may help to illustrate the magnitude of this challenge : according to the forecasts of eurostat, the european statistics institute, the population of working age ( people aged between 15 and 64 ) is going to drop from 67. 2 % of the overall population in 2004 to 56. 7 % in 2050. at the same time, the proportion of retired people ( in other words, people aged 65 or over ) is going to rise from 16. 4 % of the overall population in 2004 to 29. 9 % in 2050.