Mr President, reading the broad guidelines for the economic policy presented by the Commission for the year 2000 leaves one with a strange impression that something is missing because nowhere is there any mention of the single currency, except in a brief and fleeting reference, stating the importance of the Maastricht criterion regarding the rationalisation of public finances or the need to gear monetary policy towards price stability.
Mønten omtales kun ganske kort i forbindelse med tekstens henvisning til Maastricht-traktaten og konvergenskravene. Teksten understreger nødvendigheden af at holde de offentlige finanser i stramme tøjler og behovet for at føre en pengepolitik, som tager sigte på prisstabilitet.