2023-05-19 15:25:06
EActually, the motto that the European Central Bank (ECB) chose for its birthday celebration sounds very promising: “Stability is our thing”, which – loosely translated – means something like: “Nothing in life gives us so much joy like our courageous fight for price stability in the euro area.”
ECB President Christine Lagarde wants to celebrate the central bank’s 25th anniversary with all sorts of celebrities next Wednesday in the striking ECB high-rise building in Frankfurt’s Ostend, a European money silver wedding as it were. There will be fish, music and a birthday cake, cut by the boss herself, so much has already leaked out.
There is a birthday cake
It would undoubtedly be a wonderful celebration in Frankfurt’s Ostend, which has actually blossomed quite a bit since the tower of the central bank jutted out of the former Grossmarkthalle designed by architect Martin Elsaesser in the 1920s – if there weren’t a catch: the birthday party takes place at a time of all things taking place, since inflation in the euro area is a whopping 7 percent.
Of course, that’s ugly for a celebration. According to everything that has been heard, the central bank has not been able to bring itself to cancel the party for reasons of piety, nor is the evil number seven supposed to appear somewhere on the birthday cake. That would be even nicer.
The first lists are already circulating about who is coming and who doesn’t want to be seen. In any case, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has agreed to appear and even wants to give a speech, which should not be taken for granted because the federal government tends to stay away from monetary policy matters.
French President Emmanuel Macron, on the other hand, canceled. The head of the French central bank, François Villeroy de Galhau, will of course be there as a member of the ECB Council.
Government members or at least the respective ambassadors come from many other euro countries. Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti has announced his arrival from Italy, but Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is unlikely to be coming.
Mario Draghi also wants to celebrate
The former presidents of the ECB will also do the honour: Mario Draghi, who was much criticized in Germany in particular, but during whose tenure inflation was ultimately lower on average than in the days of the Deutsche Mark, will be there. And predecessor Jean-Claude Trichet, who headed the central bank until 2011, also wants to celebrate vigorously. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced a birthday greeting.
A little look back: When banks had to be rescued in Germany during the financial crisis, the then Commerzbank boss Martin Blessing canceled the bank and stock exchange ball without further ado: “Champagne on state dough”, that’s not possible, he said.
The ECB, on the other hand, prefers to follow the principle that one should celebrate as they come – and is likely to see the motto “Stability is our thing” as a challenge for the future.
However, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said quite soberingly in a recent interview that the high inflation will probably not disappear by the end of this year – that is more likely to happen at the beginning of 2025.
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