willem f duisenberg : maastricht and the future of europe speech by dr willem f duisenberg, president of the european central bank, at the presentation of a stamp commemorating the ten - year anniversary of the maastricht treaty, bundesfinanzministerium, berlin, 22 october 2003. * * * dr eichel, dr genscher, dr waigel, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honour for me to make one of my final public appearances as president of the european central bank on the occasion of the launch of a “ sonderpostwertzeichen ” - a special stamp - to commemorate the treaty on european union, better known as the maastricht treaty. it is not as a dutchman that i consider this treaty to be one of the most important milestones of the european integration process, but as a truly convinced european. together with the governing council of the ecb, i have been responsible for managing the single monetary policy and the single currency of the euro area, and i will not deny that my job has been inextricably linked to the wider historical process of building an “ ever closer union ” of the peoples of europe. in this respect, i consider that the maastricht treaty embodies the most decisive impulse in the deepening of the european communities established in the 1950s and strengthened by the treaty of rome. the move to economic and monetary union ( emu ) was a profoundly political act - despite the fact that the underlying rationale was predominantly economic, namely that a single market requires a single currency. having been instrumental in laying the foundations for the euro, the principles of the maastricht treaty will remain vital for the successful functioning of emu. the medium - term macroeconomic policy framework laid down in the maastricht treaty has contributed to a stable macroeconomic environment, and will continue to do so. in addition, the treaty provides for a clear allocation of responsibilities between eu institutions and member states, as well as clear mandates for all involved. the maintenance of price stability ( the ecb ’ s primary objective ), the independence of the eurosystem and the provisions safeguarding fiscal discipline, in particular as enshrined in the stability and growth pact, are among the hallmarks of this framework. furthermore, the path towards participation in the euro area mapped out in the maastricht treaty, focusing on sustainable economic convergence as

. this is especially important as the banking union currently has the same member countries as the euro area. and in a monetary union, people must be certain that their money is equally safe, wherever it is. a euro must be a euro, no matter whether it is deposited in a german bank, an irish bank or a spanish bank. conclusion : let ’ s talk dear students, i have talked for quite a long time now. i have talked about some of the eu ’ s historic achievements over the past 60 years. and i have talked about what has been achieved in the last six years, with the banking union. but as i said earlier, universities are places to exchange ideas. so now i would like to hear your thoughts. for one thing, i would like to know whether you ever feel something important is missing from the policy debates about the union. is there a danish perspective you wish was more central at the eu level? or a european perspective you think is missing from the danish policy debate? thank you for your attention! 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches