Such reforms would also have been necessary in the light of the increasingly integrated and competitive world economy. Let me highlight some of the most important achievements to date. First, the process of nominal convergence in Europe has been truly impressive, especially seen from a historical perspective.
In a sense, the EU has returned to the same macroeconomic stability that characterised the 1950s and the 1960s. Inflation in the euro area is well anchored to price stability according to our definition – below, and close to 2% - and price stability has become a common good for all European citizens, not just a subset of them.