Sceptics of all persuasions and disciplines have been confounded by the determination and ability of the governments of Europe to launch a new single currency. Far from suppressing growth and entrenching divergences, the euro has spurred a spectacular drive of job creation virtually everywhere in the Union – a trend to which I shall return later in my remarks.
By fostering a long-due redressing of economic priorities and processes, the euro has helped rejuvenating some economies that had been written off as too ossified and self-complacent to successfully compete in a monetary union. We see signs that this restructuring is spreading to other parts of the Union that have been less successful so far in taking up the challenge.