While the introduction of euro banknotes and coins will certainly bring about a quantum leap in people's acceptance of the euro and change their psychological attitude towards it, we should not forget that a great deal has already been done and that Monetary Union is already fully-fledged reality.
I am by no means an impartial observer, but I think that the first two years of Monetary Union have been a success. I hope to have convinced you of that by the end of my talk.