The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is a more stable union today than it was a year ago, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Thursday.
Also "markets are fully confident that the euro is a strong and stable currency," he said in a speech in London.
Speaking on the deep financial and economic interconnectedness between Europe and the UK, Draghi said Europe needs "a more European UK" as much as the UK needs a more British Europe.
Strongly defending the ECB's approach to the crisis and the conduct of monetary policy, he said the bank's measures "gave breathing space from markets driven by panic, which were forcing the economy into a position where inappropriately high interest rates would make default a self-fulfilling prophecy."
Today, Europe is witnessing some encouraging signs of tangible improvements in financial conditions, he said. "Although bank lending to businesses and households remains anemic, we are now seeing some signs of slight improvement on the lending side as well."
Draghi also urged national governments to improve the structural functioning of their respective economies to maintain and expand the productive capacity of the societies.
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