jean - claude trichet : interview with frankfurter allgemeine zeitung interview with mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, in frankfurter allgemeine zeitung, conducted by mr gerald braunberger and mr stefan ruhkamp, on 13 october 2011, and published on 19 october 2011. * * * mr trichet, do you believe in destiny? i have used that term on a few occasions – including the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the ecb, when i quoted konrad adenauer. he once said that europe is a community with a common destiny. he also said that “ it ’ s up to us to shape that destiny ”, and i believe he was right. you have also talked about a common destiny in connection with the euro and the sovereign debt crisis. is destiny not the opposite of a free political decision on whether or not to pursue a particular form of european integration? that is certainly not the way that i interpret the word “ destiny ”, and it ’ s definitely not konrad adenauer ’ s understanding, either. it ’ s certainly not a question of predetermination. it relates, instead, to the fundamental importance of the close unity, interdependence and friendship by which the people of europe choose to bind themselves in today ’ s world. and in that respect, we share a “ common destiny ”. many politicians have described our currency union as a matter of war and peace. is that an exaggeration? the process of integration has enabled europe to enjoy more than half a century of peace, prosperity and stability. were we to begin regressing, we would place this stability in jeopardy. from an economic perspective, the rationale for pursuing integration is far stronger today than it was in the immediate aftermath of the war. back then, china, india and latin america did not have the considerable economic importance that they have today. demographic developments have also tended to increase the importance of european integration. we europeans, if we act alone in our individual countries, will gradually look like dwarves relative to developments in the rest of the world. what is wrong with remaining dwarves? there are different ways of looking at this. but what was the original concept of europe after the war? our role model was the single us market. the view taken at the time was that, if we want to achieve prosperity and peace, we have to enjoy the same economies of scale and the same free market as the

united states. that was the view of europe ’ s founding fathers. if it was true then, it is even truer today. is the success of our currency union a precondition for the success of the european project? our currency union is the most advanced element in the process of european integration. it is the most appropriate means of realising our founding fathers ’ vision of a single market in europe. after all, you could hardly imagine a single market in the united states with different currencies in massachusetts, florida and california. you like to point out that average inflation in the euro area has been lower than … average annual inflation has, at 2. 0 % over the first 13 years, been much lower than it was before the euro in a number of member countries, and also lower than it was under the deutsche mark over the previous 50 years. our primary objective of price stability is the needle in our compass. bis central bankers ’ speeches but inflation is not the only thing that the germans fear. they are also scared that they will end up being responsible for the debts of other countries. can you understand that? first of all, i don ’ t like this talk of “ the germans ”, “ the italians ” or “ the french ”. we live in democracies. our mandate is to ensure price stability. we have delivered price stability, and the markets clearly trust us to continue doing so for the next ten years. the question of debts and who should be responsible for them needs to be put to national governments. first, to the governments who behaved improperly in the past and accumulated excessive levels of debt. and second, to the governments who simply accepted that behaviour on the part of their neighbours. we, the executive board and governing council of the ecb, have spent years arguing publicly against infringements of the stability and growth pact and warning of the dangers that this poses. do you think germany has changed over the years? i have, of course, had the opportunity to discover much of germany for myself and have gained a lasting impression of this country. this is due, among other things, to the fact that i have many, many friends here – friends such as jurgen stark, horst kohler, theo waigel and hans tietmeyer and many more. so, i have close ties with germany. i have observed changes in germany which are highly significant from an economic perspective. a simple example is the fact that, when i moved to frankfurt eight years ago,