At the start there were 11 member states; today we are 16. Nine other countries have no “opting out” clause and are supposed to enter the euro area when they meet the criteria. We will see what happens. Needless to say that any country that seeks to join EMU will have to fulfil all the Maastricht criteria not only for one year but also on a sustainable basis. Il Sole 24 Ore: How do you judge the mood in the countries that are queuing to enter the euro area? Do you see a broad acceptance of the idea that EMU commits the destiny of a country? Trichet: In some cases there is a clear and broad political consensus to join EMU. In others there is not. In any case I consider that you have to judge the process through the lenses of history. This said, I do believe that all EU institutions and governments should point out the euro area’s meaning in terms of sharing a common destiny. More specifically, we all must understand that we have to fully accept peer surveillance to preserve the good functioning of our monetary union. Il Sole 24 Ore: What about Germany: Convincing the Federal Republic to help Greece was a long and difficult process. Do you think that Germany believes in the common destiny created by the euro? Trichet: I trust that all EMU countries are aware of this fact.
Jean-Claude Trichet: Interview in Il Sole 24 Ore Interview with Mr Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, in Il Sole 24 Ore, conducted by Mr Beda Romano and published on 9 April 2010. *  *  *  Il Sole 24 Ore: Greece is in dire straits as it struggles with a huge public debt and a fall in competitiveness. Some market players and newspaper commentators see Italy as being the next in line to experience a financial crisis in the euro zone. Trichet: Of course, Italy is not at all in the same situation of Greece. Your country has shown resilience in this difficult period. In particular it was able to contain its yearly budget deficit and it has committed to get back to a sustainable situation according to the European rules. The ECB strongly encourages it to implement rigorously this programme. This said, the current crisis has demonstrated that all 16 countries of the euro zone must work hard, in a determined and efficient way, in order to make their economies more flexible and elevate their growth potential thanks to determined structural reforms. Improving labour productivity in particular is good for export growth and job creation. If this had been done more efficiently in the last years better results would have been attained in Italy as well as in the euro area as a whole.