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NEWSMAKER: JACQUES SANTERMay 5, 1998The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Transcript |
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At an historic summit meeting in Brussels, eleven nations of the European Union agreed to participate in Europe's single currency, the euro. Following a background report, Elizabeth Farnsworth speaks with Jacques Santer, President of the European Commission, about the political and economic significance of the agreement.
A RealAudio version of this segment is available.
NEWSHOUR LINKS:
May 5, 1998
A discussion with Jacques Santer.
May 1, 1998
A discussion on the euro .
February 24, 1997
What's the cultural, political and economic significance of the euro?
December 17, 1997
David Gergen interviews John Newhouse, author of Europe Adrift.
Browse the NewsHour's coverage of Europe and economic affairs.
OUTSIDE LINKS:
The European Union.
KWAME HOLMAN: Last weekend in Brussels, leaders of the European Union officially named the eleven countries that have agreed to adopt the euro as their currency. However, instead of a celebration, the occasion was marked by a bitter dispute between German and French officials that threatened to throw the adoption of the new currency off track.
The debate over who will run the European Central Bank.
It took a five hour lunch and more hours of tense negotiations to settle the issue over who would run the new European Central Bank. French President Jacques Chirac was the lone voice for appointing Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet. In a compromise, it was agreed Germany's choice, Dutchman Wim Duisenberg, would head the bank but yield the job to the Frenchman halfway through an eight-year term. Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, tried to put the best face on the controversy.
REPORTER: But it was a lunch that took five hours, it seems it was a bit of a shambles.
BERTIE AHERN: No, it wasn't a shambles, I think we are at a very historic occasion. We're at a time when we are making major achievements, accommodating all that's happened in Europe over the last number of years, but getting ready for enlargement. So it is proper that these matters are dealt with in a comprehensive and constructive way and that's happened today.
KWAME HOLMAN: The difficult birth of the euro this weekend reflects the long struggle toward a United Europe. Out of the devastation of World War II came the idea of a European Common Market. First, some national coal and steel industries were put under a common authority. That was followed by the creation of the six-member European Economic Community in 1957. Since then, through a number of name changes, additional members, arduous negotiations, and painful economic preparation, the continent edged closer to the goal of a unified economy. Now the smooth functioning of monetary policy and the new currency will be the responsibility of the European Central Bank based in Frankfurt, Germany's financial capital. Wim Duisenberg spoke about the launch of the European Monetary Union or EMU.
WIM DUISENBERG: With respect to the preparations for EMU, both the EMI, as well as the Central Banks, are on track. Indeed, as far as we all are concerned, EMU can start on the first of January, 1999.
Launching the euro.
KWAME HOLMAN: The euro will be the basis for non-cash transactions until 2002 when colorful, faceless notes and coins will go into circulation, replacing the national currencies of 11 countries. Britain, Denmark, and Sweden chose not to join for now and Greece did not meet the EMU'S economic criteria. The new monetary union or Euroland, as some already are calling it, will comprise almost 300 million people, with a Gross Domestic Product of more than $5 trillion--20 percent of the global economy and roughly comparable to the United States output.
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