Our readers have available to them a detailed summary of the declarations made at the European Parliament, both by the invited attendees and by the MEPs themselves, to mark the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the euro, and what Jacques Delors would have said if he had been there (see our bulletin yesterday). Without going over it all again, I would like to take a closer look at some of the fundamental ideas put forward and, more specifically, at a few suggestions for the future which merit some attention.
1. The euro is more than just a monetary or economic instrument; it is a fundamentally political achievement. According to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, it represents “the greatest contribution to European integration after the direct election of the European Parliament”. In the eyes of the President of the EP, Hans-Gert Pöttering, it is “an irreversible step along the road to the integration of Europe (…). The euro is linked to the cultural identity of the Europeans”. For Pervenche Berès, President of the parliamentary committee on economic and financial issues, the euro is not to do with the market but “the result of political will; it does not belong to the bankers, but to the citizens”, who are coming to recognise it as one of those symbols of Europe that certain politicians wished to reject. According to Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, the euro is an achievement the Europeans can be proud of.
2. The euro should not aspire to become a reserve currency. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing laid a great deal of emphasis on this point. Having stressed that the success of the euro has “exceeded expectations and hopes” (in less than ten years, it has become the second world currency and one of the best respected, and it constitutes a shield against monetary and economic crisis), he went on to say that the role of reserve currency “would gratify our vanity but multiply our risks”; the euro is “the currency of the European continent and should express its culture of reason and stability, in the concert of the world currencies”.
3. The European Central Bank (ECB) should be given the responsibility for defining and monitoring the new European monetary and financial rules. According to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, “we should not make the general public wait too long for a revision of the banking regulations of the eurozone”. The job of leading this revision and supervising its application should be entrusted to the ECB, which may be able to give it the impulse it needs and establish a timetable of decisions, with the whole to be put to the approval of Mr Juncker, President of the Eurogroup. There has been talk of an initiative of this kind for some time; it has been launched, and at the most appropriate level.
4. Reinforcing and increasing the effectiveness of the external representation of the euro. Jean-Claude Juncker stressed this point, because he experiences on a daily basis the illogical nature (and the selfish nature, on the part of certain finance ministers…) of the current situation. Current representation is “too fragmented”; it needs a total makeover, to reinforce the political bodies which represent the euro and to improve the coherence of their actions.
5. Completing the Economic and Monetary Union with its own economic plank. It was mainly the MEPs who highlighted this aspect. In the view of Pervenche Berès, it constitutes the next area of work for the EU to “open as a matter of urgency”, because it makes no sense for countries which share a currency and interest rates not to consult each other regularly over their economic policies. For Wolf Klinz, a single currency with no consultation over budgetary policies is unrealistic. Speaking on behalf of the Socialist Group, Robert Goebbels stressed the need for the euro countries to arrange proper coordination of their economic policies.
Just one exception. There is no point listing all the reiterations of the protective effect the euro has had for the monetary stability of Europe or in stressing how dangerous the situation would be today (even ruinous, for a number of countries) if we did not have it. This was a unanimous view, with just the one exception: according to the eurosceptic MEP Nigel Farage, there will be no 20th anniversary of the euro, because it will be dead by then. We can all remember how many experts, in London and the United States in particular, predicted when the euro was born that it wouldn't even last two years. But now we should show a bit of understanding, mixed with a certain amount of pity, for all those who find themselves obliged to proffer insane comments in order to defend their political views against reality. Let us hope that Mr Farage is still a member of the European Parliament in 10 years' time, when we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the euro.
(F.R./transl.fl)