Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Pierre Werner and Europe: The Family Archives Behind the Werner Report 1st ed. Edition Elena Danescu full chapter instant download
Pierre Werner and Europe: The Family Archives Behind the Werner Report 1st ed. Edition Elena Danescu full chapter instant download
https://ebookmass.com/product/the-embodied-philosopher-living-in-
pursuit-of-boundary-questions-1st-edition-konrad-werner/
https://ebookmass.com/product/enterprise-social-for-the-java-
platform-shares-mashups-likes-1st-edition-werner-keil/
https://ebookmass.com/product/the-economics-of-target-balances-
from-lehman-to-corona-1st-edition-hans-werner-sinn/
https://ebookmass.com/product/williams-gynecology-study-
guide-3rd-edition-claudia-l-werner/
Principles and Labs for Fitness and Wellness Werner
W.K. Hoeger
https://ebookmass.com/product/principles-and-labs-for-fitness-
and-wellness-werner-w-k-hoeger/
https://ebookmass.com/product/vereine-grunden-und-fuhren-fur-
dummies-2nd-edition-werner-g-elb/
https://ebookmass.com/product/gender-family-and-adaptation-of-
migrants-in-europe-1st-ed-edition-ionela-vlase/
https://ebookmass.com/product/report-on-the-state-of-the-
european-union-volume-5-the-euro-at-20-and-the-futures-of-
europe-1st-ed-edition-jerome-creel/
https://ebookmass.com/product/mardis-dane-a-litrpg-gamelit-
series-world-of-magic-book-3-levi-werner/
ARCHIVAL INSIGHTS INTO THE
EVOLUTION OF ECONOMICS
PIERRE WERNER
AND EUROPE
The Family Archives Behind
the Werner Report
Elena Danescu
Series Editor
Robert Leeson
Stanford University
Stanford, CA, USA
This series provides unique insights into economics by providing archi-
val evidence into the evolution of the subject. Each volume provides
biographical information about key economists associated with the
development of a key school, an overview of key controversies and gives
unique insights provided by archival sources.
Pierre Werner
and Europe
The Family Archives Behind
the Werner Report
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Pierre Werner (29 December 1913–24 June 2002)
Une oeuvre politique n’est jamais le produit de l’intelligence ou de la volonté
d’un seul homme. Le chef politique doit être avant tout le catalyseur des
énergies de ceux qui l’entourent et qui le secondent dans un grand dessein.
Je crois à la grandeur du métier politique quand il est porté par la volonté
d’unir les hommes.
This study would not have been possible without the help of many peo-
ple, to whom I wish to express my gratitude—even if I realise that the
few words which follow cannot do justice to the valuable support that I
have received.
I would firstly like to extend my sincere thanks to the Werner family,
especially Marie-Anne Werner and Henri Werner, for opening up their
father’s personal archives, for their kind permission to publish several
of the documents unearthed from them and for their constant support
throughout my research on Pierre Werner’s philosophy and achievements.
My heartfelt gratitude also goes to European Commission President
Jean-Claude Juncker and Professor Harold James (Princeton University),
who kindly accepted to preface this volume and generously share their
personal thoughts, ideas and recollections.
I greatly benefited from discussions with the academic steering com-
mittee of the ‘Pierre Werner and Europe’ research project (2011–2016),
composed of Professors René Leboutte (University of Luxembourg),
Ivo Maes (National Bank of Belgium and Université catholique de
Louvain) and Sylvain Schirmann (University of Strasbourg and Sciences
Po Strasbourg), and with the members of the ‘Architects of the Euro’
vii
viii Acknowledgements
It goes without saying that I take full responsibility for the views and
interpretations expressed in this volume.
The usual disclaimers apply.
Elena Danescu
Foreword
The first time I saw Pierre Werner face to face was 1974, during the
Parliamentary election campaign which ushered him into political
opposition for the only time in his distinguished governmental career.
‘What do you do in life?’ he asked me. ‘I’m preparing my Baccaulaureat’,
was the humble reply I gave to this man who would play a greater role
in my life than I could have imagined possible in that fleeting moment.
My next memories of Pierre Werner are from my University days,
when I found myself studying in Strasbourg, and where I attended two or
three meetings at which he explained the Plan that carried his name. This
would have been several years after the Werner Plan was published, and
without very much progress having been made on its recommendations.
And yet what I noticed in this man’s lectures, and remembered about
him, was his faultless engagement and a complete lack of discouragement
about the slow start to the Plan which he had launched. I was also struck
by the fact that Werner did not stop pleading for Europe and for a com-
mon currency, even during his time in political opposition, when many
politicians naturally have doubts about the path which they have chosen.
Our paths crossed again a few years later, and began to intertwine. I
was a 22-year old candidate in the next Parliamentary elections in 1979,
xi
xii Foreword
which took Pierre Werner back into the office of Prime Minister of
Luxembourg. I cannot claim that my fate in those elections was key to
his victory however, as I waited until the next elections in 1984 to claim
my seat in the Chamber of Deputies for the first time.
But it was in that year, 1979, that we first began to work together, or
rather when I first began to work for him, as Parliamentary Secretary
of the Christian Social Party which he led and represented as the head
of the Government. I took another step forward under his patronage
in 1982, becoming Secretary of State in his Government, and that was
the moment when I truly got to know this esteemed man, whose chair
I would one day fill. He was an extremely demanding Prime Minister,
who did not tolerate any indiscipline or ignorance on the dossiers which
we worked on. He was a man who taught me a certain way of working,
with seriousness and rigour.
Pierre Werner never let you forget your privileged position, and
its ultimate fragility. He sent me to see the Grand Duke for the first
time with a stern warning ringing in my ears. As I set off to be for-
mally sworn in as Secretary of State for Labour and Social Security, on a
proud morning in 1982, he said these words to me: ‘Do not think your-
self too important. You are a Minister but you are too young. You must tell
yourself, every morning when you shave, that you might not be a Minister
tomorrow’. Those words stayed with me for my 30 years as a Minister.
They are the wise words which every political father should utter to his
young charges.
During the 20 years of my friendship with Pierre Werner, we spoke
often and in great depth about Europe. Already when I was a young
party activist he was the man who represented a certain idea of Europe
in the eyes of my colleagues and I. And when I became Secretary of
State I had many opportunities to speak with him during meetings of
the Council of Ministers and of our party, and when I would travel
abroad with him to take part in negotiations with our neighbours in
the Dutch, Belgian and German Governments. When we first worked
together it was the height of the steel crisis, and we focused a lot of our
energies on addressing the social elements of our response to the issue.
Werner is rightly remembered for his work in the field of econom-
ics, but this was always underpinned by a quest for social justice. This
Foreword xiii
was one of the guiding principles of his leadership, set out in his first
budget speech in the Chamber of Deputies, as Dr. Elena Danescu notes
in this impeccably researched book which I have the honour to intro-
duce. Werner also brought this spirit to the European level, writing the
social chapter of the EPP’s electoral manifesto for the first European
Parliament elections in 1979.
My overriding memory of Pierre Werner is that he was a man who
believed passionately in the European vocation of Luxembourg, and in
making sure that his people became and remained pro-European. He
taught me that Luxembourg must always be a champion of European
integration, and must always be among the leaders and initiators when
European questions are brought to the table. He taught me this and I
followed faithfully his guidance and European ideology.
For Werner, and for all the men and women of his generation,
Europe was above all else a question of peace over war. He had seen
the disaster of non-Europe, and so he played his role in the creation
of Europe. As a Minister of Finance, he worked on the creation of the
Coal and Steel Community and of the Common Market. He also con-
tributed to the development of the common agricultural policy, putting
in place the foundations for a programme which is still at the heart of
our Union today. And of course, most importantly, he was one of the
fathers of our economic and monetary union.
So when we talk about Europe, and when we talk about Pierre
Werner, the connection is indisputable. One cannot discuss Werner
without discussing Europe, and one cannot discuss Europe without dis-
cussing Werner.
Werner passed on this dedication to me. If Europe is in my heart, it
is thanks to Pierre Werner, as well as to my own personal family history.
In politics, I learnt from him that in case of any doubts, I should always
play the European card over the national card. For Werner, if you pur-
sued only a national path, eventually you would cut yourself off from
the European path. And he also taught me that the European path is a
more virtuous path to follow, and that it is the path that can best guide
and benefit your national path. Werner also taught me how to negotiate
in Europe. He showed me the value of compromise, and sometimes of
concession.
xiv Foreword
congratulate Werner. For he was one of the founding fathers of the euro,
if not the founding father. And after that speech in Brussels, I returned the
same evening to Luxembourg to celebrate the moment together with him.
The currency which Pierre Werner imagined and nurtured has come
a long way since the Werner Plan of 1970, and the launch of the euro
in January 1999. I am delighted that Pierre Werner was still with us to
see the euro notes and coins enter into circulation on 1 January 2002,
though it saddens me deeply that he is not still with us now, when the
euro has become the common currency for 19 of our 28 EU Member
States, and is used by over 330 million people every day.
When I took over the Presidency of the European Commission in
November 2014, I put the completion of the Economic and Monetary
Union at the top of my list of priorities, which I hope Pierre Werner
would have approved of. Our single currency is a valuable tool for creating
jobs, growth, investment, social fairness, and stability. We have overcome a
period of turmoil in the euro zone, and now that it has stopped raining, it
is time for us to repair the roof and to strengthen our foundations.
The economic crisis of 2008 brought difficult times to Europe,
even if this turmoil did not have its roots in Europe. If Pierre Werner
had seen our adventures of the past few years, I expect he would have
smiled. In a funny way, he would have liked the difficulties we faced.
Because he would have known that they would have been even greater,
and even harder to overcome, if it were not for the common currency
which tied us together, and which he fathered.
I have always considered it my great privilege to have shared part of
my European journey with Pierre Werner, and I am honoured that this
great man shared part of his wisdom, grace and guidance with me. For
many years to come, Europeans will benefit from the work of Pierre
Werner. And I want to congratulate the author of this book, Dr. Elena
Danescu, for her role in telling his story, and for ensuring that more of
our fellow Europeans know his name and can honour his work. Pierre
Werner is already known as a great Luxembourger. He should also be
known as a great European.
This important study by Dr. Elena Danescu analyses the work and
influence of the long-standing Luxembourg Prime Minister Pierre
Werner on the basis of family papers, and concentrates in particular on
his work designing the blueprint for European monetary integration.
Werner’s contributions lay in modernising his country’s economic and
industrial structure, within a European context. Pierre Werner can be
seen in particular as the father of the euro. He chaired the European
Economic Community ‘Committee of Presidents of Committee’, whose
1970 blueprint for closer European integration was originally intended
as a response to the travails of the international monetary order.
Wernerism is in fact a synonym for European integration.
Luxembourg has a peculiar role as a melting pot for different traditions,
which Werner experienced personally. In terms of traditional Great Power
politics, it was situated uneasily between France and Germany—and was
susceptible to the power plays of those Great Powers. It is also situated
between different French and German ways of thinking about econom-
ics. But it is also a mediator for smaller states—initially for Belgium and
the Netherlands—and their role in the integration process. Europe won’t
work if it just depends on the visions of the large and powerful countries.
xvii
xviii Preface
which goods and services, people and capital will circulate freely and
without competitive distortions, without thereby giving rise to struc-
tural, or regional disequilibrium. […] The implementation of such a
union will effect a lasting improvement in welfare in the Community
and will reinforce the contribution of the Community to economic and
monetary equilibrium in the world.’
The debates of the Werner Committee looked rapidly outdated when
the international monetary system collapsed in August 1971—but it is
a testimony to the strength of the underlying analysis that the idea kept
returning, especially at moments of great strain in the international sys-
tem. The vision was essentially revived by the Delors Report of April
1989. That too might have been filed away like the Werner Report had
it not been for the geopolitical revolution that followed the publica-
tion of the report, as communism collapsed in Eastern Europe and the
Soviet Union.
The three points central to Werner’s contribution, globalisation,
national insufficiency, and the inadequacy of a monetary solution on its
own, have been consistent features of the European debate. So have the
fears that they conjure up: on the part of France that Germany might be
too powerful, or that Europe was becoming too ‘centralised’; and on the
part of Germany that France was trying to launch a grab for German
resources. Even in 2018, the underlying issues have not really been
solved.
1986. His specialist research fields are economic and financial history
and modern European history, and his current work is concerned with
the history of European monetary union.
In 2004 he was awarded the Helmut Schmidt Prize for Economic
History, and in 2005 the Ludwig Erhard Prize for writing about eco-
nomics. His early books include a study of the interwar depression in
Germany, The German Slump (1986); an analysis of the changing char-
acter of national identity in Germany, A German Identity 1770–1990
(1989); and International Monetary Cooperation Since Bretton Woods
(1996). He was also coauthor of a history of Deutsche Bank (1995),
which won the Financial Times Global Business Book Award in 1996.
He went on to write The End of Globalization: Lessons from the Great
Depression (2001); Europe Reborn: A History 1914–2000 (2003);
Family Capitalism (2006); The Roman Predicament: How the Rules
of International Order Create the Politics of Empire (2006); and The
Creation and Destruction of Value: The Globalization Cycle (2009). His
study Making the European Monetary Union was published by Harvard
University Press in 2012, and his recent work The Euro and the Battle of
Economic Ideas (with Markus K. Brunnermeier and Jean-Pierre Landau)
by Princeton University Press in 2016.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
motiveeranneet nuo ihmiset vaarallisiksi, sanoneet heidän levittävän
myrkkyään yhteiskunnassa ja olevan ilman moraalia, ilman uskontoa
ja ajattelevan vain omia nautintojaan. Tuo mies kai oli tuommoinen
uudenaikainen ihminen, joka nauraa kaikelle ja jolle mikään ei ole
pyhää. — — —
*****
Hän oli yksinään maailmassa. Hän tapasi erään kirjailijan, jota hän
aikaisemmin oli paljon ajatellut ja jota hän oli ihaillut, kuten monia
muitakin. Tämä mies oli viisas, ironinen, kylmä, häntä vihattiin ja
hänestä pidettiin, mutta häntä kohtaan tunnettu viha oli ehkä
suurempi kuin rakkaus. Tällä miehellä oli tapana osoittaa
ylemmyyttään äänensä sävyllä ja eräällä ominaisella kädenliikkeellä,
joka helposti loukkasi ihmisiä. Tämä mies laski leikkiä ihmisten
heikkouksista, leikki niiden kanssa kuin kissa hiiren kanssa. Tämä
mies nauroi niin herttaisesti ja niin katkerasti sille kullalle, jolla
ihmiskunta niin kernaasti itseään kultaa. Tämä mies oli intohimoisen
kiihkeä, egoisti, — mutta välillä taas melankolinen, raskasmielinen,
pilkallinen, hermostuneen eloisa, iloinen, mutta ilo oli jäistä iloa. He
olivat tuttavia, mutta kuitenkin toisilleen täysin tuntemattomia. He
olivat molemmat kaksoisluonteita omalla tavallaan. Se oli lyhyt ja
kiihkeä tuttavuus, ilman aikaa ja ilman valmistelua.» ‒ ‒ ‒
XI.
LAURI KIVEKÄS.
»En voi oikein paperilla kuvata tätä iltaa — Kivekäs puhui — moni
muu puhui — jokaisen silmät kiilti, jokaisen povi kohoili — eläköön
isänmaa — suomalaisuus — eläköön Kivekäs —! Maljat kilisi —
laulut helisi, booli virtaili! —»
*****
Minä en tiedä mitä sinä nyt tällä hetkellä ajattelet ja tunnet, vaan
minä rakastan sinua, minä annan henkeni sinulle ja rukoilen
Jumalaa varjelemaan sinua minulle.
Ida.»
»Sunnuntaina.
»Perjantai ilta.
»Armas!
»Oma Laurini! Minä kaduin että olin sinun antanut huomata sitä
levottomuutta joka minussa vallitsi ja joka kirjeissäni liian paljon tuli
esille. Mutta se on tullut omantunnon asiaksi ilmoittaa sinulle kaikki
vivahdukset. Minulla oli niin ikävä jäädä yksin tähän etäiseen
kaupunkiin» (nim. Viipuriin) »tuntui kuin kaikki lempeät tuulet ja
kauniit ilmat olisivat kadonneet sinun kerrallasi. Minä tunsin itseni
niin hyljätyksi ja yksinäiseksi. Minä sanon kun sinä, minä varmaan
pidän sinusta liian paljon.» —
»Laurini, armaani!
Ida.»