I am delighted to speak at this commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, which established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community.
Rome is not only the place where the European project came into being, but also the city that gave Europe its first "economic and monetary union", more than 20 centuries ago. Indeed, if Emperor Augustus could be with us today, he would probably ask: 'What have you guys been doing all this time? You are still at the point where we left you two thousand years ago!'
But the Emperor would be wrong. The "monetary union" of the ancient Romans emerged through war, conquest and prevarication; ours is based on peace, political consensus and shared welfare. In fact, we have progressed a lot from where the ancient Romans left us.
