Europeans’ efforts to join closely together and create a single currency have deep roots in European politics. Chancellor Kohl, Chancellor Helmut Schmidt before him, and, with them, many other political leaders across Europe, pressed ahead with the project, knowing that it would combine peace and prosperity. Monetary Union is a resounding success.
The scepticism about its capacity to maintain price stability has not been borne out at all. The problem is that not everyone has learnt their lessons from the global financial crisis. We have to re-affirm the visions of Helmut Schmidt and Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and of Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand.