Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
It gives me great pleasure to introduce the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,
Mr. Cameron.
I think we are very privileged after having listened yesterday to Chancellor Merkel,
to hear now the Prime Minister talking about his vision for the future of the world,
and for the future of Europe and, I should add, the Euro.
So Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, please welcome.
Thank you very much.
Thank you Klaus for that introduction.
And it's great to be back the World Economic Forum in Davos.
But we meet today at a perilous moment for economies right across Europe.
Growth has stalled, unemployment is rising,
the prospect of Europe getting left behind is all too apparent.
While China grows at 8%, India at 7% and Africa at 5.5%,
the European Commission forecasts that the EU will grow by just naught 0.6%
in the whole of 2012,
and even that is assuming that the problems in the Eurozone get better, not worse.
Yesterday, in Britain,
we had the official figures for the final quarter of the last calendar year,
and they were negative.
Other the large economies of Europe are forecast to have a similar outcome or worse.
In just four years, government debt per EU citizen, has risen by ג‚¬ 4,500.
Foreign direct investment has fallen by around two thirds,
and in more than half of EU member-states, a fifth of all young people are now out of work.
So this is not a moment to try and pretend there is not a problem,
nor is it a moment to allow the fear of failure to hold us back.
This is a time to show the leadership that our people are quite rightly demanding.
Tinkering here and there and hoping we'll drift to a solution,
simply isn't going to cut it anymore. This is a time for boldness, not for caution.
Boldness in what we do nationally,
but boldness also in what we do together as a continent.
Now, in Britain, we've had to be bold.
We were faced, as we came into government,
with the biggest budget deficit in our piece- time history, more than 10% of our GDP.
We had the most leveraged banks, the most indebted households,
and the biggest housing boom. To be cautious would have been catastrophic.
Instead, we were bold and decisive.
We formed the first coalition government for 70 years.
We legislated for a fixed term five-year parliament,
which has helped to give people the confidence of stability and credibility.
We put forward an aggressive set of plans to get our economy back on an even keel.
Five and a half billion pounds saved inside the first financial year,
the one that was already underway.
Welfare bills, cut. The cost of government, cut.
Public sector pay, frozen. The state paid pension age increased.
Let me give you one example, the reform of public sector pensions.
This is a difficult issue for any government.
We want public servants to have good pensions. We've insured that that is the case,
but at the same time, we've actually cut the long-term cost in half.
By taking bold decisions to get to grips with the debt,
Britain has shown that it is possible to earn credibility and get ahead of the markets.
Our borrowing costs have fallen to the lowest for a generation,
and we will be equally bold in meeting our key ambition, which is to support enterprise,
and to make Britain the best place in the world in which to start or to grow a business.
So, we are pursuing an unashamedly pro- business agenda, scraping needless red tape,
simplifying planning, reviewing all regulation,
creating the most competitive business tax regime in the developed world,
with corporation tax coming down to 23%.
We're making bold investments in new infrastructure, including high-speed rail.
And while we may be fiscal conservatives, we are monetary radicals.
We are injecting cash into the banking system, and introducing credit-easing measures
to make it easier for small businesses to access finance.
So my message to you, in this special Olympic year for Britain,
is that we are a country that is absolutely committed to enterprise and to openness.
Come to Britain, invest in Britain. Be part of this special year in a truly great country.
So yes, in Britain,
we're taking the bold steps necessary to get our economy back on track.
But my argument today,
is that the need for bold action at the European level is equally great.
Europe's lack of competitiveness is its Achilles' heal.
For all the talk,
the Lisbon strategy has failed to deliver the structural reforms that we need.
The statistics are pretty staggering.
As measured by the World Economic Forum, more than half of EU member-states
are now less competitive than they were this time last year,
while five EU member-states
are now less competitive than a country that is pretty sclerotic, Iran.
For every Euro invested in venture capital in the EU,
five times as much is being invested in the US.
Our single market, one of our greatest strengths, remains incomplete,
and there are still a colossal 4,700 professions across the European Union
to which access is regulated by government. And that is not all.
In spite of the economic challenge, in spite of the unemployment challenge,
we're still doing things through the EU to make life even harder.
In the name of social protection, the EU has promoted unnecessary measures
that impose burdens on businesses and governments and can destroy jobs.
The Agency Workers Directive, the Pregnant Worker's Directive,
the Working Time Directive, the list goes on.
Then, of course, there is the proposal for a financial transactions tax.
Now, of course, it is right that the financial sector should pay their share,
and in the United Kingdom we're making sure that's the case with a bank levy,
and with the fact that we charge stamp duty on shares.
And these are options that other countries can adopt.
But if you look at the European Commission's own original analysis,
that showed that a financial transactions tax could cost the GDP of the European Union,
and could reduce it by ג‚¬ 200 Billion. It could cost almost 500,000 jobs,
and force as much as 90% of some markets away from the European Union.
Even to be considering this at a time when we're struggling to get our economies growing,
is quite simply madness. It shouldn't go on like this.
That is why Britain has been arguing for a pro-business agenda in Europe.
This is not just a British agenda.
Over the last year, we have spearheaded work with 15 other member-states across the EU,
both inside and outside the Eurozone.
This weekend, Chancellor Merkel and I called for a package of deregulation,
and liberalization policies.
And our ideas now lie at the heart of what the European Commission is promoting too.
Together, we're pushing for the completion of Single Market in services and in digital.
Those two things could add alone, ג‚¬ 800 Billion to EU GDP,
and they could lead the drive to exempt micro- businesses for excessive regulation,
both new and existing.
But I believe, we need to be bolder still, so here is the checklist.
All proposed EU Measures should be tested for their impact on growth.
We need a target to reduce the overall burden of EU regulation.
And we need a new proportionality test to prevent needless barriers-to-trade in services
and to slash the number of regulated professions in Europe.
That together with our international partners,
we also need to take decisive action to get trade moving.
Now, I'm not going to give you the standard speech on Doha.
Last year, at this very forum, world leaders called for,
an all-out effort to conclude the Doha Round in 2011.
We said it was a make-or-break year, it was.
And we have to be frank about it, it didn't work.
But we must not give up on free trade.
Let us step forward with a new and ambitious set of ideas to take trade forwards.
First, rather than trying to involve everyone at once,
let us get some bilateral deals done.
Let's get the EU Trade Agreements with India, with Canada, with Singapore,
finalized by the end of this year.
Completing all the deals now on the table, can add ג‚¬ 90 Billion to Europe's GDP.
And let's also look at all the options on the table for agreement between the EU and the US,
where a deal can have a bigger impact than all of the other agreements put together.
Next, let's be more creative in the way we use the multi-lateral system.
Far form turning our back on multi-lateralism, we need the continued work of the WTO
to prevent any collapse back to protectionism,
to ensure we take a candid interest of the poorest countries in our world,
and to ensure that the WTO framework is fit for the 21st century.
And I also believe that it means, going forwards,
perhaps with a coalition of the willing, so countries who want to,
can forge ahead with more ambitious trade deals of their own,
consistent within the WTO framework.
Now, there are some proposals out there already, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership,
but why not also an ambitious deal between Europe and Africa,
or even a Pan-African Free Trade Area.
This is a bold agenda on trade,
which can deliver tangible results for the world economy this year,
and I'm proposing that we start work on it immediately.
Now, of course, the most urgent question facing all of Europe right now,
is how to deal with the Eurozone crisis.
And this is where, I believe, Europe needs to be boldest of all.
Vital progress has been made.
The European Central Bank
has provided extensive additional support to Europe's Banks.
Many Eurozone countries are taking painful and difficult steps to address their deficits,
and to give up a degree of sovereignty
over the governance of their economies in the future.
And, of course, there was the agreement to set up the firewall.
Now, all of these are welcome and necessary steps,
and I don't underestimate for one moment,
the leadership and the courage that has got us this far.
But we need to be honest about the overall situation.
The crisis is still weighing down on business confidence and weighing down on investment.
A year ago, bond rates where 5% in Spain, nearly 5% in Italy,
and more than 7% in Portugal.
Today, they are still 5% in Spain, up to 6% in Italy, and 14% in Portugal.
So, we still need those urgent short-term measures to be properly put into effect.
The October agreement needs to be fully implemented.
The uncertainty in Greece has to be brought to an end.
Europe's banks must be properly recapitalized.
And, as the IMF has said, the European Firewall
needs to be big enough to deal with the full scale of the crisis,
and the potential contagion.
And Chancellor Merkel is absolutely right to insist that Eurozone countries
must do everything possible to get to grips with their own debts.
But we also need to be honest about the long- term consequences of a single currency.
Now, I'm not one of those people who think that single currencies can never work.
Look at America. Look at the United Kingdom.
But there are a number of features that are common to all successful currency units.
A central bank that can comprehensively stand behind the currency,
and the financial system.
The deepest possible economic integration with the flexibility to deal with economic shocks,
and a system of fiscal transfers,
and collective debts issuants that can deal with tensions,
and the imbalances between different countries and regions within the Union.
Currently, it's not that the Eurozone doesn't have all of these,
it's that it doesnג€™t really have any of these.
Now, clearly, if countries are close enough in their economic structure,
then tensions are less likely to arise.
But when imbalances are sustained,
and some countries do better than others year after year, you can face real problems.
That is what the current crisis is demonstrating.
Now, of course, private capital flows can hide these problems for a while.
In the Eurozone, that is what happened.
But once markets lose confidence and dry up, you are left in an unsustainable position.
Yes, tough fiscal discipline is essential, but this is a problem of trade deficits,
not just budget deficits.
And it means countries with those deficits making painful decisions to raise productivity,
to drive down costs year after year to regain their competitiveness.
But that doesn't happen over night, and it can have painful economic,
and even political consequences.
Nor, in fact, is it sufficient. You still need the support of single-currency partners,
and as Christine Legarde has set out, a system of fiscal integration and risk sharing,
perhaps through the creation of Europe-Area bonds, to make that support work.
As Marion Monty has suggested, the flip- side of austerity in the deficit countries,
must be actioned to put the weight of the surplus countries behind the Euro.
Now, I'm not pretending that any of this is easy.
These are radical, difficult steps for any country to take.
Knowing how necessary, but also hard they are, is why Britain didn't join the Eurozone.
But they are what is needed if the single currency, as currently constituted, is to work.
Now, of course, some people would say, it's all very well Britain making these points
but you're not in the Euro and, in fact, last month you even vetoed adding a new treaty
to the European Union. Let me answer that very directly.
I understand why the Eurozone members want a treaty inside the European Union.
But if they do, there have to be safeguards for those countries
that are in the European Union but who have no intention of joining the single currency.
I didn't get those safeguards, so the treaty isn't going ahead inside the European Union.
But let me be clear, to those who think that not signing the treaty
means, somehow, Britain is walking away from Europe, let me tell you,
nothing could be further from the truth.
Britain is part of the European Union, not by default, but by choice.
It fundamentally reflects our national interest to be part of the single market
which is on our doorstep, and we have no intention of walking away from it.
So let me be clear, we want Europe to be a success
and all the measures that we'll be proposing for next week's European council,
can help achieve that success.
But we want Europe to succeed not just as an economic force but also as a political force,
as an association of countries with the political will, the values,
and the voice to make a difference in the world.
When that political will is there, we can make a decisive difference.
Together with President Sarkozy,
Britain led the new European sanctions on Iran's oil exports
so the world doesn't have to confront a nuclear armed Iran,
or a wider military conflict.
In Syria, we've taken the lead against Assad's oppressive violence
and we will not let up until he steps aside.
And, of course, in Libya, we secured that UN revolution
and put together a multinational coalition faster than almost any time in our history.
British and French pilots led the way together in the early hours
when the fate of Benghazi was at stake and together we saw it through,
helping the Libyan people overcome tyranny and secure their own future.
So I am proud to work with my European partners and I'm proud of what we can achieve.
I stood on this platform only a year ago and said that Europe could recover its dynamism.
I still believe we can, but only if we are bold, only if we fight for our prosperity,
get to grips with our debt, take bold decisions on deregulations,
on opening up the single market, on innovation, on trade,
and address the fundamental issues at the heart of the Eurozone crisis.
All these decisions, they lie in our own hands.
They are the test of Europe's leaders in the months ahead.
Yes, the stakes are high.
They are incredibly high but there's nothing about the current crisis
that we don't understand.
The problems we face are manmade and with bold action and with real political will,
we can fix them. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Very happy to take some questions.
I think there are some roving microphones.
...see a way through this crisis.
I think the single most important thing is to deal with what I call the short-term issues.
There's short-term and there's long-term.
Short term has got to be Greece, banks and firewall,
and if you do all of those three things together quickly, and fundamentally,
I think you'd ease the sense of crisis there is,
accompanied by what the European Central Bank is already doing
and perhaps it could do even more.
I think for 2012, that is what would make a clear difference in sentiment, in outlook,
in a sense that the Eurozone leaders want to take the steps
that will ease the short term problems.
But as I said in my speech, that doesn't really address
some of the longer-term tensions at the heart of the single currency
which are about competitiveness and are about trade deficits
as much as they are about budget deficits.
And I think it's that part of the piece that needs further work and attention.
And I think that's what Chancellor Merkel was talking about yesterday
and Christine Lagarde as well. -Excuse me.
Bankers here are telling me that they think the Eurozone is over the worst of the crisis.
Do you think that is wishful thinking?
I think what's happening still at the moment in terms of the high-bond yields
in countries that are effectively going to hold back their growth
and their participation in the European economy,
that's still, as I said, I did my speech,
it's a little bit better than it was at the end of last year,
but it's still not fixed. And so you've got to fix, in my view,
those short-term issues before you can go on and then deal with a longer-term problem.
Look, why didn't this problem manifest itself earlier?
You could ask yourself.
There have been many years of successful Eurozone operation.
Well, of course, in those years, private sector financial flows,
in many ways, were covering up for some of the deeper competitiveness problems.
And so, as those flows have dried up unless they return,
you're going to have to address some of the more fundamental problems
at the heart of the Eurozone.
Because as I said, every other single currency has at least some of those features
and it seems to me, logical that a successful single currency
will have to adopt some of those, if it's going to succeed in the long-term.
Gentleman here.
(Inaudible) from the United Kingdom.
Prime Minister, there's been a lot of discussion in addition to the Eurozone
this week about redefining and remodeling capitalism,
and you recently made a speech on this subject.
Are we on an inevitable path towards state capitalism?
No, I don't think we are.
I think those of us who believe in genuine market capitalism
need to make the defense of our system against state capitalism.
And I think, absolutely at the heart of it is the rule of law.
It may be an odd thing, sometimes, to advertise to international investors
but I also think it's quite a good tip to ask,
how many times does the government lose a court case?
Well, frustratingly in Britain, we seem to lose them all the time.
It's a very good test of, are you living in a genuinely free country
where you can inform your rights and your property rights and everything else
and I think the genuine open and free market economies, the European economies,
have got to stand up and shout about their values of freedom and democracy
in the rule of law because those are actually some of the things
that make us safer and great economies to invest in.
So I don't think we should give up in this battle at all.
I think the challenge for Europe in a way, can be put quite simply.
We've got the two faces of Europe.
There's the face of Europe that people from the outside look at that they admire still,
which is the great values, the great democracy, the great rights,
the fantastic culture. These are great strengths for Europe.
But the second face at the moment is of economic stagnation, low growth,
rising unemployment, lack of competitiveness. Now we can change that.
We shouldn't be pessimists about this.
If we actually deregulate our economies, make them more competitive,
keep our tax rates down, pay for our long term healthcare and social needs,
change the way our economies work, we can be a success story in the future.
But we have to demonstrate the political will to do it.
Then we can show both faces to the world and then we can take on anybody,
because we've got the culture, the rights, the democracy, the history,
the brilliant European values but we've also got the strong economy
and the strong prospects for the future.
But it's the second face we've got to cope with this year.
Gentleman over here in the middle with his hand up.
(Inaudible)Institute.
What safeguards, Prime Minister,
are you looking for in the new treaty to return to negotiating table,
and how are we going to deal with the competitiveness of periphery of Europe?
Right. Well, on the issue of the treaty, as I said in my speech
that it's quite clear to me that the Eurozone countries need to come together,
do more things together, cooperate more together
in order to make the single currency work.
And my view is they can obviously do that inside the European Union if they want to,
or they can do it outside the European Union.
What matters as the country outside the Eurozone is that there are proper safeguards
if they want to do it within the EU treaties.
There weren't those safeguards, so they have to have the treaty on the outside.
But I think people can overdo what happened in December.
The real change in Europe came when some countries decided to form a Eurozone
and to give up their countries and join the Euro.
That was inevitably going to mean they were going to have to sit together,
talk together, work together, because they've got one currency between them.
Now I don't think for one minute that this process disadvantages Britain.
I think in many ways, we got the best of all worlds.
We are in the European Union, major contributors to the European Union,
we have a major say about the single market in the work of the European Union
but we're not in the Eurozone. And that gives us the flexibility
to have our own interest rates, to run our own monetary policy,
it means that, right now, we can combine the tough fiscal stance that we undoubtedly need,
confirmed only yesterday by the IMF,
who said there's no fiscal space in Britain for a further stimulus.
We can combine that tight fiscal stance with what, I would call,
quite a radical monetary policy where interest rates are low,
but we're also working on credit easing
and trying to get credit directly into banks and businesses to get our economy moving.
I don't think this disadvantages Britain at all.
I think it's the right way to engage in Europe and where we have strong partners
and strong agreements on things like the single market and competitiveness,
we fight very hard, we have lots of allies.
On some occasions, we don't want to be in part of Europe's doing.
The Schengen no borders Agreement is another example.
Many countries in Europe want to tear down their borders,
have complete free movement, that's their decision.
Britain thinks its right to keep borders because there is an opportunity
to deal with drugs and guns and some of the other issues.
So we're not in that part of the European Union.
That's not to our disadvantage. That's to our advantage.
Who's next? We need a bit of gender balance here.
There we are, over here. Thank you.
Hi, my name is Yasmin (inaudible) from Egypt.
My question is about the UK's leadership and foreign policy.
What, if anything, is the UK doing to ensure a smooth transition to democracy in Egypt?
Right.
Well I think this is a huge challenge and,
while I'm still an optimist about the Arab Spring,
I still think that that region of our world,
having the chance to throw off quite corrupt autocratic regimes
and have the chance of democracy and a say in how they're governed,
is still a huge net positive for that part of the world,
but also, frankly, for us as well which is why I'm so proud in what we did in Libya,
and also the help that we've given in Egypt.
I think the issue in Egypt is trying to get the transition right.
I think that the military powers that be
have to do more to show people that they want a functioning democracy,
and I think they need to take further steps in that direction.
I think in Europe we have a responsibility. We're major trading partners,
we're major investors into Egypt.
I think for too long a neighborhood program in Europe wasn't very conditional,
it wasn't very active, it wasn't very robust and we're changing that
to make sure that the way Europe engages with Egypt, with Tunisia, with Morocco,
with Libya is far more positive and far more about trying to promote democracy
and plurality, and the building blocks of democracy,
that will give people in Egypt that chance of success.
I think Egypt is absolutely key because of its size and scale.
If the Egyptian people can demonstrate that they're on a path
towards a form of successful democracy as we have in Turkey, for instance,
I think that will do enormous amounts for that region.
But we shouldn't look away from what's happening in Tunisia and Libya,
both smaller countries, potentially both quite wealthy countries,
I think they can also show a sort of guide light to other countries
that want to make the move from autocracy to democracy.
I think we've got room for one more and then we've got a special treat for everybody.
Gentleman here.
Mr. Prime Minister, what's your message for the Palestinians and Israelites people?
Right. Well my message to the Palestinians and the Israelis is please keep talking.
We had the talks in Jordan, the start of this year,
and the truth of this matter is, it doesn't matter what happens at the United Nations,
it doesn't matter what resolutions we pass in the House of Commons,
or even here at the World Economic Forum, this can only happen,
the two state solution of a secure Israel next to a new state of Palestine
can only happen through a negotiation of those two parties sitting around the table.
As President Obama has said on one or two occasions,
we can't want it more than they want it.
Now it's clearly in both their interests for those talks to go ahead and succeed
and I would say, as I did say to Bibi Netanyahu earlier this week,
you know, you've got to show some confidence building measures
to show the Palestinians you're serious about getting a deal
and I said to President Abbas earlier this year,
don't add too many preconditions before you go into talks
because you've got to do the negotiations around the table
rather than before you get there.
Now, if both sides can give up a little, can actually show they want a deal,
they want to agree, I think we all know, roughly,
what most of those end-state solutions are.
As Shimon Peres has put it, many times, and I think here in Davos,
sometimes he feels that there's a light but there's no tunnel,
and we need to get the tunnel right in terms of the talks process
so we can get to the end point we all want to achieve.
Can I thank Professor Schwab again for inviting me to address you today.
Can I ask two people to come on stage just briefly.
This year, as you know, 2012, is the year the Olympics are coming back to Britain,
and coming to London, and I've got two very important people,
I'd like you to give a warm welcome to,
the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and Sebastian Coe.
Boris, over here. We will stand and wait.
It's very difficult to get ahead of Seb Coe under any circumstances.
Ladies and gentlemen, I just want to say that in spite of the difficulties in the Eurozone,
and the other problems that the Prime Minister has indicated,
London of course remains a formidable exporting power,
not just of financial services, but bicycles made in Chiswick to Holland.
I'm proud to say, TV aerials manufactured in Wandsworth to Korea.
Rice milled in Havory goes, you guessed it, to India.
Cake in growing quantities, chocolate cake made in the London Borough of Waltham Forest
goes, of course, to France.
Let them eat cake, I always say (inaudible) to Waltham.
And today I'm proud to say that we have exceeded ourselves.
We've done even better.
We've taken several cubic metres of water, London water, Thames water,
the champagne of water, we have frozen this water and we have exported ice to Switzerland.
Ladies and gentlemen, we brought ice to Davos and you can go and see it
outside the Cafֳ© Schneider where I opened it this morning.
It is a beautiful ice sculpture of Tower Bridge adorned with the five Olympic rings.
It is the symbol of the gateway to East London and the regeneration of that part of the city
that we are going to achieve by holding our games.
People of Davos and investors around the world, come to London this year,
come to London 2012 to see what we are doing,
to put on what, I hope, will be the greatest Olympic and Paralympic games ever held
and to secure a lasting legacy of jobs and growth for London.
And now, to give you a flavor of what you are to enjoy in London,
I want you to watch this film.
To make an Olympic champion, takes millions of young people around the world
to be inspired to choose Olympic sport.
On behalf of the youth of today, the athletes of tomorrow,
we offer London's vision of inspiration and of legacy.
The International Olympic Community has the honor of announcing
that the games of the 30th Olympiad in 2012 are awarded to the city of London.
First, we want to deliver a magical experience
and electrifying atmosphere for competitors and spectators.
The atmosphere is going to be electric.
You will remember it for the rest of your life.
That magic begins with the venues, existing world class stadiums,
spectacular city centre locations,
and most importantly, our decision to create an Olympic park.
IT's just a fantastic thing to see the transformation.
It gives me goose bumps you know.
There will be a fantastic atmosphere here in London.
It's enormous, when you're actually here,
you're in awe of the size of the whole complex.
What a beautiful, inspiring building it is.
It's inspiring people to give it a go. To get out there and have fun.
It's breathtaking. I think it's spectacular (inaudible).
(Inaudible).
We know the games must offer more than just 17 days of world class sport and celebration.
Wow, London's amazing.
London's vision is to reach young people all around the world.
To inspire young people to choose sport wherever they live,
whatever they do, whatever they believe.
In 1948, our predecessors reunited a devastated world through sport
and their legacy was the first volunteer program.
We still have a significant number of test events.
It's 2012 and we're ready to stage the games the whole world can be proud of.
One of the most popularly asked questions I get is,
what is the biggest challenge of being part of a team delivering an Olympic games
over seven years?
And, by a distance, the answer to that is
following Boris Johnson onto any public platform.
You can see from the film, we are extraordinarily excited
about what lies ahead of us in the next six months to deliver for you, the world,
the greatest games ever.
We're equally excited by what we're leaving behind for the next 50 years,
transformed lives in a transformed landscape in East London,
a new city within an old city,
and an opportunity to drive so many of those social and economic bridgeheads
that we know the games have historically created.
London awaits you with open arms. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much Boris.
Ladies and gentlemen, you've seen the venues, you've seen some of the athletes,
you've seen the passion.
Now all that remains is for you to come to London and see it for yourself.
We will also be putting on a huge number of investment, inward investment conferences
that gives you the perfect excuse to come to London, invest in Britain
and enjoy the games at the same time.
And I look forward to giving you the warmest possible welcome when you do so.
Thank you very much indeed.
Ace speech. Good stuff on the Euro.