It was an exceptional response – or to paraphrase Robert Kagan36 an anti-historical response – to a century that had seen dictatorships, war and misery, and in that respect was not dissimilar 7 / 10  BIS central bankers' speeches  to previous centuries.
Former Commission President Jacques Delors described the process leading up to the Maastricht Treaty as one requiring “great determination, rockhard solidarity and a little daring from time to time”.2 The leaders of Europe have once again demonstrated these qualities with their policy response to the pandemic crisis. And as we emerge from the pandemic, we need to continue down this path.