"The Legacy of Charlemagne—Wolfgang Schäuble and European Integration"
IMF News, May 16, 2012
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: Christine Lagarde
- Published: May 16, 2012
Overview
- Speech delivered by Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund.
- Location and date: Aachen, May 16, 2012. Marked as "As prepared for delivery".
- Purpose: To honor Wolfgang Schäuble on the occasion of his being awarded the Charlemagne Prize and to reflect on his role in European integration.
Founders of modern Europe and the Charlemagne Prize
- Charlemagne (born 742) remembered as Pater Europae who unified western Europe and introduced the livre currency standard based on silver.
- Post–Second World War founders internalized lessons from Charlemagne’s posthumous fragmentation and prioritized the public good and cooperation to secure lasting peace and prosperity.
- Quoted: Robert Schuman, 1949 — “We are carrying out a great experiment, the fulfillment of the same recurrent dream that for ten centuries has revisited the peoples of Europe—creating between them an organization putting an end to war, and guaranteeing an eternal peace”.
- Early Charlemagne Prize recipients included Patres Europae such as Adenauer, Schuman, de Gasperi, Monnet, and others; later recipients included Helmut Kohl, Francois Mitterrand, Vaclav Havel, Jacques Delors, Tony Blair, Angela Merkel, Jean-Claude Trichet, Bill Clinton, and Pope John Paul II.
Wolfgang Schäuble’s role in European integration — timeline and milestones
- Biographical anchors:
- Born in 1942; noted parallel that Charlemagne was born 1200 years earlier (742) and both were about 60 years old at defining moments (founding of the empire; the birth of the euro).
- Career milestones and European integration events:
- 1950s: Experienced formative years of the European Union—transformation of the European Coal and Steel Community into the European Economic Community (Common Market).
- 1960s–early 1970s: EEC advances—removal of customs duties, a common agricultural policy, first international agreements as a group.
- 1972: Elected to the Bundestag for the first time (held seat for the next 40 years); Europe took first steps toward a common currency with the Exchange Rate Mechanism.
- 1973: European Community expanded from six to nine members.
- 1980s: Created the first “cross-border euro region” (Kehl-Strasbourg) representing Offenburg near the French border; rise in politics/government.
- 1989: Became Minister of the Interior; led negotiations for German reunification.
- 1990s: European integration continued—Single Market deepened economic ties and the Maastricht Treaty paved the way for the common currency.
- 2005: Returned to government as Interior Minister; euro in place and Europe’s economy booming.
- 2009: Became Finance Minister as the debt crisis began to simmer.
- 2010: Named top finance minister by the Financial Times.
Leadership during crises and views on deeper integration
- Key principles:
- Belief that Germany’s destiny lies within Europe; “if a solution is good for Europe, it is good for Germany, and is something is bad for Europe, it cannot be good for Germany”.
- Advocated that deeper integration—including political integration—should have accompanied the creation of the euro.
- Sees the crisis as an opportunity to advance integration and improve rules and institutions needed for monetary union; quoted: “We couldn’t do it back then. Now we have to catch up”.
- Contributions in crisis response:
- Credited with many impressive European initiatives in response to the financial and debt crises.
- Recognized for personal resilience and strategic long-term thinking comparable to Jean Monnet’s incremental approach.
Internal integration and social cohesion
- Emphasis on internal integration: Germany described as an “integration country” where people “feel like you belong to a society, that you share a common understanding of how you can live together in this society”.
- Example: As Interior Minister in 2008 organized the first Islam conference by a German government; stated “Islam is now part of Germany and Europe”.
Personal reflections and character traits
- Anecdotes:
- Early political recruitment story: given an hour to decide whether to stand for election.
- After IMF Spring Meetings, while others rested, he went for a three-hour ride on his hand bike.
- Interests: football fan (Bayern-Munich mentioned), plays sudoku at parliament and Eurogroup meetings.
- Character and values:
- Guided by duty, decency, resilience, humility, loyalty, and a sense of public service.
- Survived a severe assassination attempt and responded by asking “where am I needed, what makes the most sense?” with the leitmotif “go forward, not backward”.
- On his 70th birthday and the 10-year anniversary of the euro, he reflected: “When you look back on such a long life, the four children we raised, you don’t get worried about what the future holds, but you rather feel grateful for what has been given to you”.
Conclusion — legacy and judgment of history
- Central message: When nations act in solidarity to address common challenges, they can create a virtuous cycle of peace and prosperity rather than a vicious cycle of conflict and stagnation.
- Christine Lagarde’s judgment: Wolfgang Schäuble is “a man of great duty, loyalty, nobility, humility” and “a true successor of the founders of Europe. A worthy recipient of the Charlemagne prize.”
- Final reflection: Future centuries will judge current leaders; Lagarde expresses belief that “the name of Wolfgang Schäuble will long be remembered as one of those who did their best for their own time, and so for all time.”
Source: "The Legacy of Charlemagne—Wolfgang Schäuble and European Integration" By Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund. Aachen, May 16, 2012.