Jean-Claude Juncker, Discours à l'occasion de la cérémonie d'adhésion de la Slovaquie à la zone euro, Bratislava

We have come to Bratislava today to celebrate the entry of Slovakia into the euro area. I am proud to share this special moment with you, which completes a remarkable journey from the socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia to independence, membership in Nato, the European Union and now the euro area in less than two decades. Who would have thought 20 years ago – in January 1989 – that in early 2009, the European Union would stretch from the Atlantic to the borders of Russia and that there would be a single currency for 16 countries and their 323 million citizens?

At the same time, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of our single currency – the euro. The 10th year since the creation of Economic and Monetary Union has certainly been the most turbulent to date but we may now say that the euro is indeed the strong currency that we had hoped for, providing stability and shielding our economies and our citizens from the most adverse of developments. We are therefore proud to bring Slovakia under the protective shield of the euro, thus fostering economic growth, price stability and prosperity.

Although this is certainly a moment for the Slovakian people to feel extremely proud about what they have achieved with the adoption of the euro and for us to join them in these celebrations, we must not let ourselves be overcome by self-congratulations and turning a blind eye to reality.

The reality is that 2009 will be a year of enormous challenges for the euro area and for Slovakia and the coherence and cohesiveness of our policy framework will be tested seriously.

True: the euro has become the subject for countless eulogies throughout the world, as friends and foes alike hail and extol the single currency as an effective anchor of stability in an otherwise turbulent sea, leading them to predict confidently that the expansion of the euro area will gather pace in the wake of the current crisis.

However, we should not forget that the benefits which the euro conveys to its members reflect the obligations that euro area membership entails. Euro area members are better protected from adverse economic developments because they have a certified track record of implementing prudent and stability-oriented economic policies. Slovakia, in order to become a member of the euro area, had to establish such a track record and it has done so. All the other member states had to establish this track record, and they have done so. But if you take away this track record, you erode the very foundations on which the benefits of the single currency are built.

Having laid these solid foundations at home, we are proud to welcome Slovakia to the euro area, thus helping us to further strengthen the foundations of monetary union and complete the construction of European integration.