Despite the rejection of the Nice Treaty by Irish voters in last Friday’s referendum, the ECB’s Mr Ernst Welteke said today the implementation of the treaty was still possible.
However Mr Welteke, who is president of the Bundesbank and member of the ECB's governing council did not expand on his ideas for the ratification of the treaty.
Mr Welteke’s comments came as ECB officials launched a concerted effort to talk up the beleaguered euro. The ECB repeated its desire for a strong euro and said they were monitoring the exchange rate closely for any inflationary impact.
Me Welteke said the euro had been weakened by capital outflows and political uncertainty. "There are questions about further developments in Italy, Austria and now we also have the referendum in Ireland," he said.
Mr Welteke said "I once again repeat a great interest in a strong euro, which makes the task of ensuring price stability easier."
But the currency market, which is on guard for central bank intervention, brushed off the comments and the euro was holding at day highs around $0.8480 this afternoon.
The ECB is being careful to speak with one voice on the common currency, which has slumped to six month lows against the dollar, and Bank of France governor MrJean-Claude Trichet sent the same message in separate comments in Paris today.
These comments faithfully echoed the words of ECB President Mr Wim Duisenberg last week, when he said that the bank had a strong interest in a strong euro. These have kept markets on their toes for a repeat of the ECB's intervention last year.
Mr Welteke said the euro's external value was one important factor in assessing price risks and added that the currency's weakness was hindering public acceptance ahead of the launch of euro notes and coins next January.
"The exchange rate of the euro is a very important indicator and in the current environment it is a psychological barrier to its acceptance," Mr Welteke added.