robert holzmann : the euro in central, eastern and southeastern europe ( cesee ) opening remarks by dr robert holzmann, governor of the oesterreichische nationalbank, the austrian central bank, at the conference on european economic integration ( ceei ) 2024, vienna, 21 november 2024. * * * check against delivery ladies and gentlemen, honorable guests, esteemed colleagues, dear participants, it is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to this year's conference on european economic integration. i am very pleased to see that so many distinguished experts and colleagues have come to discuss the euro in central, eastern and southeastern europe ( cesee ). we picked this topic for two reasons. first, 2024 marked the 25th anniversary of the introduction of the common european currency, which crowned more than seven decades of european integration. second, the string of recent crises – including the energy and high inflation crises – has sparked an intense debate in the dynamic cesee region about the advantages and disadvantages of adopting the euro participation compared with keeping their national currencies. at this year's conference, we are also commemorating olga radzyner, former head the oenb's foreign research division. she was a trailblazer for our bank's research focus on cesee. 25 years ago, olga radzyner died with her family in a tragic accident. olga radzyner already studied the role of the euro in cesee and the prospects for monetary integration at a time when the euro area was just about to come into being. her dedication and commitment laid the foundation for the oenb's extensive and wellestablished expertise on the region. a warm - hearted person and born networker, olga radzyner set up an outstanding network of international experts, connecting people from east and west and from many different institutions. we are proud to preserve her legacy by continuing to build on this network with our annual ceei conference, honoring her memory now and in the years to come. to set the stage for our conference topic, let me draw a historical parallel which offers valuable context for our discussions today. roughly one hundred years ago, europe witnessed the dissolution of a powerful transnational currency area – the austrohungarian currency union. the breakup went hand in hand with the disintegration of the habsburg empire itself, one of the most influential political entities in european history. for over a quarter of a century, the austro - hungarian

krone, or crown, had circulated as a single currency. as such, it fostered economic ties and trade across vast territories that are today divided into a number of modern nation states. 1 / 7 bis - central bankers'speeches when that union fell apart, its currency did so, too. and the successor states of the empire established national monetary systems. central banks emerged across the region as guardians of these new currencies. these central banks represented not only monetary sovereignty but also newfound national identities. as you know, the term " crown " for legal tender has not completely disappeared. notably, the koruna, or crown, has persisted to this day in one of the empire's successor states, czechia ( formerly bohemia and moravia ). it is fitting, then, that we take this opportunity in 2024 to commemorate the centennial of two important central banks in cesee : magyar nemzeti bank of hungary and bank polski sa, the predecessor of narodowy bank polski, the central bank of poland. their establishment one century ago marked the beginning of a new chapter for their countries that was characterized by the interplay of national sovereignty and monetary stability. in many ways, today's conversation about the role of the euro in cesee echoes the challenges and opportunities these newly established central banks faced a hundred years ago. back then, europe was grappling with questions of monetary – though not only monetary – independence, integration and cross - border cooperation. today, we are revisiting these same questions, albeit in a different context : in the context of a new transnational currency – the euro – a currency that has, over the past two decades, transformed europe in profound ways. historical milestones for europe : the euro and eastern enlargement two key milestones have shaped europe in the recent past : ( 1 ) the introduction of the euro and ( 2 ) the eu's eastern enlargement. separated by only a few years, these two events have had an enduring impact on european integration and have had a profound influence on the cesee countries. launching the euro as an accounting currency in 1999 and as physical cash in 2002 was an unprecedented step toward deeper economic and monetary union in europe. for the first time, millions of citizens and businesses across the continent shared a currency, which facilitated cross - border trade, travel and investment in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few decades earlier. despite pessimistic predictions