"EMU also has implications for policy fields beyond those explicitly related to the management of the single currency. The inter-dependencies generated and reinforced by the introduction of the euro, entail a shared responsibility for the common currency on the part of all euro area member states," Duisenberg said in the text of a speech delivered at a financial conference in Cernobbia, Italy.
He added: "Inappropriate policy choices in one country can have an immediate impact on the common currency for example via the exchange rate."
Duisenberg said that for the euro to be a lasting success, national policy makers, businesses and trade unions within the European economic and monetary union would have to adapt to the conditions of the single currency.
The ECB has provided an internally stable euro although public perception has been confused by developments relating to the currency's external value.
"In this context, allow me to reiterate that the ECB's monetary policy objective is the internal value of the euro, and that in the longer term the euro's internal strength will also be reflected in its external value," he said.
EMU states are still learning to communicate adequately to the markets and public that they consider themselves parts of a larger entity but he said that deficiencies in this area were being addressed.
He added that "the recognition that Europe's performance depends to a large extent on its ability to take on the task of implementing real structural reforms appears to be gaining ground."
News and data releases from individual economies within the euro zone "have sometimes inappropriately been interpreted as indicators for the entire currency zone," Duisenberg said.
"Such inadequate analysis can produce real difficulties, especially when the markets magnify and exaggerate the effects of these misconceptions," he said. X-Mailer: MR/2 Internet Cruiser Edition for OS/2 v1.50 b48
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Colin Brace <cb at lim.nl>
Amsterdam