Monetary Union Quotes

I can confirm that Poland should become a eurozone country, and not just because of the treaties that have been signed, but because I consider it of strategic interest both for Poland and the E.U.

On private transactions, I'll just go very quickly now, a major difference between the United States and Euroland is that in Europe banks are much more important in financial transactions than in the United States.

Economic necessity will override patriotism and cause the nations of Western Europe to band together--if not under a single government, then certainly in a close politico-economic alliance

It's political glue inside Europe to keep it together - the euro is the best thing going for it since the creation of the common market.

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

The participation of our country in the eurozone is a guarantee for the country's monetary stability. It is a driver of financial prosperity.

There are so many problems in the E.U. that several countries are warming up to the idea that after the single currency, a deeper integration could also be created.

What we should be doing in the EU as a whole is more economic integration in the single market, rather than less.

I think that France has not made it clear enough recently to our German friends how important it is to introduce euro bonds as a tool against speculation. And how the necessary budget discipline needs to be accompanied by growth.

Berlin has traditionally backed a rules-based eurozone in which every member state is responsible for its own finances, including bank bailouts, with political union limited to a fiscal overlord's possessing veto power over national budgets that violate the rules.

At the time of the formation of the euro, I would say most American economists said that's not a good idea; that's not a currency area that makes sense. And the answer from Europe was, 'How is Missouri and Mississippi a currency area?' But the flaw in that was not recognizing the importance of mobility.

The euro has become a means by which superior German productivity is able to gain an absolutely unbeatable advantage over the whole eurozone territory.

The creation of a United States of Europe is a necessity if one considers the economic and technical situation.

Germany is the biggest economy of Europe and we need Germany on board for the economic reforms of Europe, including, of course, the deepening of the internal market, resisting protectionism, and supporting further economic policy coordination.

When the euro was born, it was born in the wrong economic circumstances.

We've delegated politics to bankers. The European Central Bank is inside Deutsche Bank, and Deutsche Bank is inside the Bundesbank.

The euro is a sickly premature infant, the result of an over-hasty monetary union.

At the same time the Constitution sets in stone the Stability Pact and risks preventing member States from implementing a policy of growth. So we are not able to do things at the European or the national level.

There is no question that a breakup of the euro would be very damaging, very costly, both financially and politically. And the biggest loss would be incurred by Germany. Germans have to bear in mind that, effectively, they have suffered practically no losses so far. Transfers have all been in the form of loans, and it is only when the loans are not repaid that real losses will be incurred.

The euro is... a failed currency, a wrong currency, a failed experiment.

There's a stability and growth pact which was agreed for the eleven countries which tries to limit the size of budget deficits among the eleven countries.

I was sure we would never see the adoption of the Euro. Countries giving up their currencies for a common tender was, it seemed to me, completely out of tune with currency being a carrier of people's cultural identity, celebrating national heroes and events, as it had been for hundreds of years.

In order to consolidate the euro we need to harmonise our economic, fiscal and social policies, hence we are going toward greater integration.

The euro is a hybrid of a fixed exchange-rate regime, like the 1980s ERM or the 1930s gold standard, and a state currency.

The euro is our common fate, and Europe is our common future.