As President of the ECB, I consider the present Economic and Monetary Union fully consistent and coherent.” And yet, can the European Union exist in the long term without all of its Member States being part of the single currency?
Technological advance has expanded the scope and utility of our financial products and - as I noted - has increased the ability to unbundle risks. It has also promoted the faster and freer flow of information throughout the financial system: we are quickly moving to real-time systems, not only with transactions but also with knowledge.