has been closely involved in the european construction and european unity. he has been an outstanding ecb chief economist. he is one of the greatest champions of the european union that i know. when, after serving the euro for many years, such a person, who has been totally loyal to the institution, announces his resignation for personal reasons, one has to fully respect his decision. according to opinion polls, a majority of germans now want the deutsche mark back. is the euro at risk of losing its backing in europe ’ s largest economy? there are different opinion polls! in early september die welt published the results of a survey in which two thirds of respondents in germany called for “ more common policies in europe ”. the citizens of germany know how important european unification is for their country ; the fall of the iron curtain would not have been possible without a united western europe. bis central bankers ’ speeches in that case, how do you explain the growing mistrust? i believe there is a problem of communication. contrary to how things are often portrayed, we do not have a crisis of the euro as a currency. the euro is a credible, stable currency. in spite of the global crisis, its external value today is significantly higher than when it began. for 13 years the ecb has provided for stable prices. and observers and markets are anticipating the same stable prices for the next ten years. this achievement in particular is not valued highly enough by some commentators in germany, and i do not understand why that is. of course, there are shortcomings in the financial sector, in fiscal policies, and as regards financial stability : the financial markets are too unstable, some euro area countries are uncompetitive, and reliable fiscal policy is lacking in several countries. however, none of these problems have to do with the currency. they are the responsibility of the governments of the euro area. do you have the impression that the heads of government have understood what is at stake? i believe they are conscious of their extraordinary responsibility. they all have to make decisions in the context of democracies which, in the advanced economies, are very inwardlooking, which is a real problem at the time of the worst global crisis for the last 66 years. what will happen if the european heads of government do not get the crisis under control? my working assumption is that the heads of state and government will overcome the crisis. europe must realign its fiscal policy, as other large developed economies must also do

jose manuel gonzalez - paramo : the euro as one of the main aspects shaping european identity today speech by mr jose manuel gonzalez - paramo, member of the executive board of the european central bank, on the occasion of the inauguration of the euro exhibition at banca nationala a romaniei, bucharest, 10 march 2011. * * * dear governor isarescu, ladies and gentlemen, i am delighted to be here today for the opening of the euro exhibition, which is being hosted by banca nationala a romaniei until 27 may 2011. this is yet another example of the strong ties that the european central bank has developed with banca nationala a romaniei over the last few years – i remember vividly the romanian artists who performed in frankfurt in 2009 as part of the ecb ’ s cultural days, which were showcasing romania that year. the euro exhibition is dedicated to europe ’ s single currency : the euro. stage three of economic and monetary union began on 1 january 1999 with the irrevocable fixing of the exchange rates of the currencies of the 11 member states initially forming the euro area, and culminated on 1 january 2002 with the introduction of the euro banknotes and coins. since then, countries have continued to join the euro area, the latest, as you know, being estonia on 1 january this year. the euro banknotes and coins are therefore now legal tender in 17 of the 27 eu member states and are used by the 331 million citizens in an area stretching from cyprus to ireland and from portugal to finland. in fact, they have become one of the most visible symbols of europe and the euro is one of the main aspects shaping the european identity today. the introduction of the euro has brought many advantages – not only for citizens of the euro area countries, but also for citizens of other eu member states, such as romania. for example, when travelling within the euro area, romanian citizens can use the euro as a means of payment across borders and thus only need to exchange their currency once. furthermore, they can compare prices across the euro area countries much more easily. finally, romanian enterprises, for which the euro area is an important trading partner, can use one currency, namely the euro, in their transactions with business partners from the 17 euro area countries. in order to join the euro area, each eu country must meet a number of clearly defined criteria, namely : 1. it must not be subject to an eu council decision that an excessive budget deficit exists ;