Reden und Präsentationen

Es gilt das gesprochene Wort.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

It is my pleasure to welcome you all here at the opening of the exhibition “Euro Coins – Genesis”. First and foremost allow me to thank Commissioner Joaquin Almunia for initiating this touring exhibition on the evolution of the Euro-coins. An exhibition that takes its visitors on a historical journey showing them the development of our Euro-coins until their final introduction in January 2002. I would also like to express my gratitude to President Christoph Leitl for the excellent co-operation between the Austrian Chamber of Commerce and the Oesterreichische Nationalbank in organizing our conference “Experience with, and Preparations for the Euro”. And I would like to thank Governor Josef Pühringer for hosting our conference in Upper Austria and City Councillor of Finance, Johann Mayr, for hosting this exhibition in the Old City Hall of Linz.

This event is also the logical continuation of the exhibition “The Design of the Euro”, which was organized by the Oesterreichische Nationalbank in autumn 2004 and focused on the different designs of the Euro-banknotes.

While the Euro-banknotes look the same in all countries of the Euro area, the Euro-coins reflect the European spirit of „united in diversity“. As you know, there is one common side of the Euro, which was designed by the Belgian Luc Luycx.

And there is another individual side, which was left to each country’s preferences and constitutes the link to the different member states and people. The individual sides were marked with national symbols or important historical personalities. At this moment we are counting 12 member states in the Euro area with 8 different coins each; a total of 96 different coins. But that is without counting Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican state.

During the currency changeover we exchanged 107 billion units of national coins for 51 billion units of Euro-coins. At the end of last year we had 63 billion units of Euro-coins circulating in the euro area, of which 3,2 billion were produced by the Austrian Mint.

In the near future, the enlargement of the Euro area will further increase the colourful variety of the different coins. This should be an additional incentive to discover other EU-Member States and spread the degree of acceptance of the Euro.

In Austria the Oesterreichische Nationalbank is doing its best in promoting the standard of knowledge of the Euro. And our information campaigns, if I may say so, have proven to be quite successful. The outcome of a recent ECB general public survey shows positive trends and developments for Austria: compared with other euro area countries the Austrian people are scoring very high in recognizing the importance of price stability and concerning their degree of confidence in the work of the European Central Bank. I am convinced that the well founded state of knowledge on the Euro will have a positive impact, it will make the Austrian people feel more comfortable with the European integration process as a whole. Our positive results show that dialogue and communication are the right way and can help bringing the EU closer to its citizens.

The Euro provides Europe with a strong currency and a stable anchor in challenging times. So far, our common currency has proven to be a driving force for economic reform and further political integration of the European Union. Thus, the Euro is far more than a solid basis for our economies, it is an important symbol for the peaceful cohabitation in Europe.

In this sense, I wish you all an enjoyable and interesting visit of this exhibition.