credibility and confidence that was the privilege of the most credible national currencies before the euro. the credibility was such that the medium and long - term market rates of the euro were at the same low level as those experienced by the most reliable national currencies before. in spite of a series of global shocks resulting from the prices of oil and commodities, yearly inflation since 1 january 1999 has been 2. 1 % on average. price stability in the medium term is essential not only because it protects the incomes of all our fellow citizens – and particularly the most vulnerable and poorest ones – but also because it is one of the preconditions for growth and job creation. since the euro came into being 15. 7 million new jobs have been created, over one million more than on the other side of the atlantic. the euro has been a remarkable success. i don't intend to name and shame those who said that europe's single currency would be impossible, or that its introduction would be a failure, or that it would be impossible for it to inherit the best previous credibility levels, or that fault lines in its construction would lead to a permanently weak currency. a success indeed. europeans have achieved what was deemed impossible, what had never been tried. as tocqueville said : “ l ’ histoire est une galerie de tableaux dans laquelle il y a peu d ’ originaux et beaucoup de copies ”. “ history is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies. ” the single currency of europe is indeed an original, according to tocqueville's definition. this is a time for celebration. this is also a time for reflection. the first ten years have been extremely busy for the executive board, for the governing council, for the ecb and for the eurosystem. the extraordinary motivation of our staff members is, in my opinion, due to their awareness of, and pride in, making history. and on the subject of history, i would like to make some observations. europe's single currency has ancient roots : apart from the single currency of the roman empire, two thousand years ago, i could mention george of podebrady, a king of bohemia in the 15th century, who called for a common currency for europe, or victor hugo's call for a single market with a single currency in europe in the 19th century. by implementing the economic and monetary union enshrined in the werner

in order to raise the long - term growth potential of europe. and the lucid monitoring of the national competitive indicators, including unit labour costs. mr president of the parliament, mr president of the union, mr president of the commission, mr president of the eurogroup, europe can count on the ecb and on the eurosystem to implement in this century the historic task which was assigned to us at the end of the last century. we will be faithful to the primary mandate given to us by the treaty. we know that our fellow citizens are asking us to deliver price stability. we know also that price stability is a prerequisite for financial stability, a very important objective at the current juncture. all the members of the governing council make their decisions taking into account the interests of the whole of the euro area, of 15 countries. we do not consider any particular country, but all 15 of them. sehr geehrte frau bundeskanzlerin, this year in aachen, upon receiving the charlemagne prize, you quoted konrad adenauer : “ gerade in aachen wird man die mahnung verstehen, dass europa uns heute schicksalsgemeinschaft ist. dieses schicksal zu gestalten ist uns ubergeben ”. “ in aachen, above all, people will understand the call : that europe, for us today, is a community with a common destiny. it's up to us to shape that destiny. ” “ justement ici a aix on comprend l ’ appel qui fait de l ’ europe aujourd ’ hui notre destin commun. il nous appartient de donner forme a ce destin. ” a “ common destiny ” : the words of the man with whom general de gaulle achieved reconciliation after so many conflicts. these words apply even more to the countries belonging to the euro area. in the ecb and in the eurosystem we are fully convinced that, with our fellow citizens, 320 million of them, we share a destiny in common – wir teilen dasselbe schicksal – nous partageons un destin en commun. i thank you for your attention.