Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-01-16-Speech-3-134"
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"en.20020116.10.3-134"2
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"Mr President, President Prodi told us this morning that the introduction of euro notes and coins was a huge success. And several Members have gone even further by speaking of the enthusiasm of consumers, who appear to have embraced the new currency.
In our view, these comments are excessive. It is true that the changeover to euro notes and coins was well executed, technically speaking, but the consumers had no other choice than, sooner or later, to use the new money. The real test will be that of managing the euro in the years to come. And, in this respect, if I were a federalist, I would not be pleased. I would be rather concerned, because, today, the people who occupy a very difference position to us on the political stage, such as Jacques Delors, are saying exactly what we have always said, namely that the euro cannot function as it is. We should speed up integration, as Mr Prodi said. We should strengthen the economic pillar or move towards a political Europe, as other Members are saying. In short, we need more supranational power to integrate at European level; in other words, that Europe is turned into more of a super-State.
There is the rub, Mr President. Is Europe prepared to accept this super-State? No, it is not! First of all, the nations of Europe are sufficiently diverse in every respect that it is not possible to create an optimal monetary zone. Some of our Members will certainly say that a super-State with the power to ensure consistency is all the more necessary. Yes, admittedly, it might be all the more necessary, but at the same time, it is all the more impossible. So this is the vicious circle in which the euro zone countries will struggle over the coming years.
You could also say that it is a race against time. For the euro to work, either those who oversee it will fairly soon manage to pull apart the nations and build the super-State – and then the euro can survive, but what state will Europe and democracy be in? – or the nations, simply because of their differences, will make it impossible to manage the single currency. As for us, it is clear what we prefer, Mr President, out of an affection for our homelands and because of our belief in the fundamental need for a national framework for democracy and solidarity.
Is there not a third option, however, that of a single currency without a State? This could appeal to us, but no one actually knows how it would work if confronted with asymmetric shocks. Furthermore, the markets themselves do not believe in it, as proven by the persistent weakness of the euro in recent days.
The euro, then, is launching us into an adventure with very serious political and financial consequences of which the citizens were not warned in advance and which they are not prepared to shoulder. It should really be the people who invented the euro who are concerned."@en1
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