Trichet Urges New Vision for Europe as Greeks Protest Austerity

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet urged policy makers to revitalize the vision of an integrated Europe.

“These days, ‘Europe’ and the benefits it brings have come to be taken for granted,” Trichet said in a speech in Brussels last night, according to a text provided by the ECB. “Thanks to the success of European integration, the threat of war has become a memory of the past for many Europeans, in particular the younger generation. This makes it all the more urgent to develop a renewed vision of the kind of Europe we want and indeed need -- a vision that is easily understood and shared among European Union citizens.”