lucas papademos : five years of the euro - past achievements and future challenges speech by mr lucas papademos, vice - president of the european central bank, at the conference “ the euro at five ” organised by the federal reserve bank of san francisco, the european commission and the university of california at berkeley, san francisco, 27 april 2004. * * * introduction this conference to mark the first five years of the euro, which the federal reserve bank of san francisco, the european commission and the university of california at berkeley have kindly organised together, is - to my mind - akin to a birthday celebration. and as it is always nice to be invited to birthday parties, i am grateful to have the opportunity to address all of you who have shown by your presence here that you take an interest in the development and potential of our new currency the euro. on such occasions, we often sit back and recall with fondness and pride the past ; and for the younger ones, we tend to go back to the joyful day of birth, the delightful but sometimes stressful early years, and we remember the excitement, the achievements, as well as the difficulties associated with growing up. and we do not only talk about the past, we also look forward and talk about what lies ahead : the promising prospects as well as the challenges that may come. this is what i would like to do today for the euro. the euro : from the drawing board to reality one cannot understand the genesis and significance of the single currency without going back to the roots of the european construction, and the desire of european nations to create conditions for lasting peace and prosperity on their continent after the two devastating wars during the first half of the 20th century. in designing the post - war framework for cooperation in europe, the “ founding fathers ” of what is today the european union took a truly revolutionary step : they managed to “ think outside the box ” of autonomous nation states and indivisible sovereignty. they fashioned a novel political organisation, where decisions are made together and sovereignty is shared, and where supranational institutions assume responsibility for the common interest. initially, the prime focus of intra - european politics was on how to facilitate the free flow of goods, services, capital and people across national frontiers. creating a genuine common market in europe, comparable to the unified market of the united states ’ economy, was the stated objective. monetary and exchange rate stability, though not explicitly stipulated in the founding treaties, also became an integral

mario draghi : hearing at the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament introductory statement by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, at a hearing before the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament, brussels, 25 april 2012. * * * madam chair, honourable members of the committee on economic and monetary affairs, it is a pleasure to be back here in parliament and in front of your committee for our regular exchange of views. accolgo con soddisfazione l ’ esito delle riunioni di primavera di aumentare le risorse del fondo monetario internazionale ( fmi ) di 430 miliardi di dollari. l ’ area dell ’ euro ha fatto la sua parte accrescendo le proprie protezioni e impegnandosi a fornire al fmi un importo aggiuntivo di 150 miliardi di euro. sono lieto che ora altri azionisti del fondo si siano offerti di prestare il proprio contributo per incrementarne le risorse. il est maintenant d ’ une importance cruciale que le mecanisme de stabilite europeen soit entierement operationnel. la bce peut fournir son soutien a cet egard. naturellement, meme avec un pare - feu important en place, les pays de la zone euro doivent continuer a mettre en œuvre les ajustements budgetaires et structurels qui s ’ imposent. wie ublich, werde ich zuerst auf die aktuelle wirtschaftliche lage im eurogebiet eingehen. danach werde ich mich den themen zuwenden, die sie vorgeschlagen haben : bewertung der sondermaßnahmen der ezb und bewertung der wirtschaftlichen ungleichgewichte in der wahrungsunion. economic and monetary developments let me first focus on economic and monetary developments in the euro area since our previous meeting on 19 december last year. available indicators for the first quarter of 2012 broadly confirm a stabilisation in economic activity at a low level. latest developments in survey data are mixed, highlighting prevailing uncertainty. looking ahead, growth should