##f, a very different institution, and the ecb. “ fast ”? so you mean without necessarily waiting for a vote in the german bundestag to save, for example, an italian bank? in fact, it ’ s vital for the euro area to be able to take decisions fast. the ecb can do this. the 25 members of our governing council may have their differences, but we analyse, we debate, we try to build a consensus and, finally, we take a decision on which nobody has a veto. by contrast, the crisis management system in the euro area is essentially intergovernmental. this method carries a high economic cost because it ’ s a procrastination machine. look at the greek crisis, which is finally coming to an end after eight years! and it turns every decision into a zero - sum game. the challenge for the european council, at the end of this week, will be to move from a europe of horse - trading to a europe that builds its own future. europe has to show that it is taking its destiny into its own hands. last thursday you took part in the eurogroup meeting on greece. are you satisfied with the agreement? will the debt relief granted be enough? this is a turning point for greece and for europe. greece can now free itself from european stewardship. the sacrifices made by greek society, supported by european solidarity, have paid off. for those who have doubts about this solidarity, i would like to point out that europe provided greece with funding of €245 billion! i particularly admire the determination and courage of the greek finance minister, euclid tsakalotos. greece will also get a clear boost from the debt relief that was promised a long time ago by the european governments. the ecb was clearly in favour of this. the measures decided upon by the eurogroup go in the right direction, because in the medium term they will make greece ’ s debt more sustainable and in the long term the ministers declared their willingness to take additional measures should the need arise. but let ’ s not be naive : greece will move from a dialogue with the european institutions and the imf to a dialogue with the financial markets, which will be neither easier nor more pleasant. to maximise its chances, the country must continue with its reforms and stick to a prudent budgetary policy. greece failed to leave the euro area in 2015 and has been through a deep recession. if you could go back

benoit cœure : interview in le figaro interview with mr benoit cœure, member of the executive board of the european central bank, in le figaro, conducted by mr fabrice node - langlois and published on 25 june 2018. * * * at the summit on thursday france and germany are to present their joint roadmap for european reform. at a time when many citizens are calling europe into question, why should it be reinforced? we are living in a confusing, dangerous world which is evolving very fast and not always in the right direction. europe is once again in rough waters and it is its duty to protect its citizens. if a boat is caught in a storm, the crew needs to cooperate closely, not work at cross purposes. europe will not be able to establish a joint defence capability or improve border control unless it has a robust economy. that is why we urgently need to strengthen the euro area. we cannot afford to have another ten years of crisis. existential discussions on the single currency are a waste of time. surveys show that the vast majority of european citizens are in favour of the euro. emmanuel macron and angela merkel propose creating a budget for the euro area. what is that budget for? the meseberg agreement is an important contribution to the reform of the euro area. the euro area budget is a useful idea. in the first instance, the common budget can help to accelerate convergence among member states. at the time of the maastricht treaty, it was somewhat naively thought, in france especially, that monetary union was going to bring about convergence by and of itself. that was not the case. with time, it could help a country hit by a recession that it could not tackle alone, even if its public finances were in order. look at ireland, which in 2008 was hit by a severe financial crisis, followed by a recession, despite having a sound budget. it was not able to manage on its own. the budget is also a political symbol for the shared interest of euro area countries. the euro area should be about more than individual interests in a currency managed by the ecb. how can this convergence be improved in practice? we can invest in infrastructure or in facilitating reforms that strengthen the euro area. i am thinking for example of the greek land registry, which is still not in place and which could have been financed by this budgetary capacity if it had existed. the roadmap does not mention any figure for