Transcription of the interview with Luc Frieden (Luxembourg, 28 July 2010) — Full version Caption: Transcription of the interview with Luc Frieden, Luxembourg Finance Minister, carried out by the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (CVCE) on 28 July 2010 at the Luxembourg Finance Ministry. The interview was conducted by Elena Danescu, a Researcher at the CVCE, and particularly focuses on the following subjects: the personality and European achievements of Pierre Werner, Luxembourg’s role in the European integration process, the Eurogroup, Ecofin and economic governance after the Lisbon Treaty. Source: Interview de Luc Frieden / LUC FRIEDEN, Elena Danescu, prise de vue : Alexandre Germain.- Luxembourg: CVCE [Prod.], 28.07.2010. CVCE, Sanem. - VIDEO (01:01:41, Couleur, Son original). Copyright: (c) Translation CVCE.EU by UNI.LU All rights of reproduction, of public communication, of adaptation, of distribution or of dissemination via Internet, internal network or any other means are strictly reserved in all countries. Consult the legal notice and the terms and conditions of use regarding this site. URL: http://www.cvce.eu/obj/transcription_of_the_interview_with_luc_frieden_luxembou rg_28_july_2010_full_version-en-e33e22f6-309f-4652-b22b-5b22db97afb6.html Last updated: 05/07/2016 1/16 Transcription of the interview with Luc Frieden (Luxembourg, 28 July 2010) — Full version Contents I. Luc Frieden on the personality and European achievements of Pierre Werner........................1 II. The role of Luxembourg and Luxembourgers in the European integration process.................4 III. The government’s work to introduce the euro to Luxembourg.................................................5 IV. Ministerial portfolios in Luxembourg and participation in European Councils of Ministers. Relations between the Eurogroup and Ecofin..........................................................................6 V. The Banque centrale du Luxembourg and EMU......................................................................7 VI. The euro zone and the Stability and Growth Pact: current situation and prospects..................8 VII. The Eurogroup, Ecofin and economic governance after the Treaty of Lisbon.........................9 VIII. The European Financial Stability Facility (euro support fund)...............................................11 IX. The international financial centre in Luxembourg..................................................................12 I. Luc Frieden on the personality and European achievements of Pierre Werner [Elena Danescu] On this day of 28 July, it is a great honour to meet the Luxembourg Minister for Finance, Mr Luc Frieden, whose account will contribute to the research file on the work and achievements of Pierre Werner on which the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe is currently working. Hello, Minister. [Luc Frieden] Hello. [Elena Danescu] With your agreement, I should like to start with a few questions on your relationship with Pierre Werner. Having just graduated in business law at the Sorbonne, you received in 1987, as part of the Joseph Bech prize, an award granted to young academics. Attending the ceremony were Pierre Werner and Jacques Santer, two public figures with whom you worked in your subsequent career. When did you first meet Werner and what do you recall from that meeting? [Luc Frieden] In fact I first met Pierre Werner as a student, because during the holidays I was working as a reporter for the Luxembourg radio station RTL. As part of this summer job RTL had sent me to see Werner to cover various events. From the outset I noticed that, despite my only being a student, he displayed great respect for young people. He treated me like a grown-up. So that was the first time that I saw Werner face to face and was able to speak to him. But obviously as the Prime Minister in office when I was born, he was someone who made a great impression on me with regard to the handling of the affairs of state. Having lived in the country, and taken an interest in politics, I had always seen Werner as someone who displayed great dignity, great commitment, in the running of our country, so I could never have imagined at the time that I would one day become 2/16 Finance Minister, like him. But it was perhaps something that impressed me from the very beginning. In fact, he is someone for whom I had and still have a great deal of admiration. [Elena Danescu] How did your relationship develop at that point, after that first interview? [Luc Frieden] Quite unexpectedly a rather special relationship developed, because he noticed that I was interested in government affairs and European politics. Subsequently, after continuing my studies in the United States and Great Britain, I was appointed to work at the ECU Institute, which was a European association committed to promoting the single currency. Pierre Werner was also on this committee. As a young student, and subsequently as a young lawyer, we would both attend meetings of the Institute, which was based in Lyon, France. So I suggested to Werner that I could take him in my car. Always kind and considerate, Werner agreed. During our recurrent journeys to Lyon we talked about a great many things. Actually I mostly listened, as Werner did the talking. I was his chauffeur, so to speak, and I enjoyed listening to what he had to say. I learned a great deal from these journeys, in the course of which I asked him many questions about Europe and politics. I think it was probably during these trips that he convinced me to venture into politics, about which I was hesitant: in fact, he brought out my political commitment. [Elena Danescu] Do you remember his outlook at the time on European integration? [Luc Frieden] Yes, I remember very well that he would always explain that was no alternative to European integration. Obviously, we were in the late 1980s and we were talking about Europe on a smaller scale than is currently the case. But with his experience of the post-war years, his grasp of the Luxembourg economy which needed the Common Market, as it was known at the time, to sell steel and export financial services and media products, he would always explain that there was only one solution for Luxembourg, and that was to play an active part in European integration. A currency, from his standpoint, was just a logical component of European integration. So he often talked to me about the European spirit and he easily won me over to this approach. [Elena Danescu] Did he talk about his mission in the chair of the Werner Committee? [Luc Frieden] Not as such, but certainly in passing. On our way to the ECU Institute we obviously had plenty to say about the single currency and he reminded me why, even then, he thought the Common Market would only be complete once it had achieved economic and monetary union. So, as far as he was concerned, it was a perfectly normal idea. He also explained to me the problems holding up the project, at that time. But actually, what he did in the 1970s and we carried through in the 1990s was exactly the same thing. It was the same approach. There were only a very few subsequent changes, but the political climate was more favourable in the 1990s than 20 years earlier. 3/16 [Elena Danescu] After the Werner Plan was shelved, did he tell you who might carry on his work on monetary union, or who he thought his successors might be? [Luc Frieden] I think he never gave up the idea of achieving economic and monetary union. This explains his European commitment, even after leaving office. He would always say that we must build a single currency in one form or another. He did not mention any specific people, but he was certainly convinced that others would carry on his work. And I believe that, among those who took his place at the head of the Luxembourg Government, or as Finance Minister, he found worthy successors whom he knew well. It should be borne in mind that he put Jacques Santer’s name forward to succeed him, and he also brought Jean-Claude Juncker into his government as State Secretary for Labour, later becoming Finance Minister. It was also Werner who encouraged me to go into politics. In fact it was after one of the many talks I had with him, not just on the way from Luxembourg to Lyon, but also I sometimes went to see him at his home at Limpertsberg, where one day, for Christmas 1991, he presented me with his memoirs. He gave them to me, then he took out his pen and wrote inside the book: ‘To Luc Frieden as a heartfelt tribute in the hope that reading this will open up prospects for him in the choice of his career.’ I think that this exchange was probably the last time we talked before I decided to go into politics, which came to fruition in 1994 when, at Santer’s request, I took part for the first time in the general election. So, I think that without actually citing anyone in particular who he wanted to implement the Werner Plan, because after all it was a European plan, I do think that he had a clear idea of who, directly or indirectly, he had in mind to carry on the work he had started so well. Furthermore, as far as he was concerned, his work did not only concern monetary union, but also developing Luxembourg as a financial market place, developing its international side. He often told me about his first trip to the World Bank after the Second World War. He stressed how important it was for Luxembourg to belong to international organisations. So his overall sense of openness, of which the monetary project was a part, was an essential part of his character, and I think I have never forgotten that message since we had those talks 20 years ago.