Thursday, April 25, 2013

We'll understand the Treaty of Lisbon in 2030

Speech by Jörg Asmussen, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, The Economist’s Bellwether Europe Summit, London, 25 April 2013 --

The enhancement of the governance framework shows that governments in the euro area have finally understood, what had been laid down in the Maastricht Treaty already: that in a monetary union, the economic policies of each country are “a matter of common concern” for all.

The Maastricht Treaty was agreed in 1992 and ratification was completed in 1993. Two decades later, an influential ECB board member says that only now have the governments finally understood it. Lucky that the pesky people were kept out of it or we would be waiting even longer!