Lucas Papademos Quotes

Interest rates do not have to be identical across the whole euro area, but it is unacceptable if major differences arise from broken capital markets or concern about a euro area break-up.

Europe must dissipate any doubts over the euro, affirm that the euro is an irreversible project and act in consequence.

It is the entire euro zone system which is under threat at the moment, not just a few small countries anymore... Our euro is under threat. The changing situation needs a quick and immediate reaction.

The goal of the government is to guarantee the place of Greece in the eurozone against those who want to undermine it.

We are near, very near, to an end to the eurozone crisis... The worst - in the sense of the fear of the eurozone breaking up - is over. But the best isn't there yet.

We must break up the eurozone. We must set those Mediterranean countries free.

Leaving the euro was never up for discussion. It is not up for discussion.

If I had political responsibility, I would want to prepare for a plan B that would foresee that the European currency union, that the eurozone, no longer necessarily consists of 17 member states. And that means to make provisions so that other countries are not pulled into the maelstrom through contagion.

The 1992 crisis proved that the existing system was unstable. Not moving forward to the euro would have set up Europe for even more disruptive crises.

It is obvious that the monetary union among 17 very different European countries does not work. As an economist, I know that the Eurozone is not an optimum currency area, as defined in economic theory.

The euro is a vital issue for Germany. There is no other country that derives as much benefit from the common domestic market and the monetary union as Germany.

The euro zone must strike for a better governance structure, and there is no alternative to that. Euro zone countries must either develop an exit mechanism for troubled members, or it should embrace a closer political union: an effective governance structure that is capable of enforcing rules.

I hope Greece is going to remain in the Euro zone.

Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. Believe me, it will be enough.

Indeed, the creators of the euro envisioned it as an instrument to promote political union.

You've got some very powerful countries: Poland, the United Kingdom, Sweden and others who have a genuine desire to see the euro zone straighten itself out. It's good for all of us, whether you're in the euro zone or not, to make sure that it doesn't lead to a fracturing.

The Euro was a terrible mistake, one that is very difficult to unmake.

In the end, the politics of the euro zone weren't strong enough to create a fully integrated fiscal union with a common banking system, etc.

If the euro fails, Europe fails.

It's in our interests that the euro is a successful, strong currency.

While it was an experiment to bring them together, nothing has divided Europe as much as the euro.

I can understand countries don't want to join the euro, but they cannot impede the consolidation and strengthening of the eurozone.

If European monetary policy is run according to German interests, huge structural imbalances will accumulate. The Germans will then either have to pay to correct those imbalances or agree that the euro should not be run primarily according to German interests. If they are unwilling to do either of those things, the euro can't survive.

I would say that fears of the euro area breaking up are unfounded.

The euro must be defended, or uncertainty about the European Union will be widespread.