Jean-Claude Trichet’s European Central Bank presidency started in November 2003 with a damaging dispute over the fiscal rules that underpin the euro. It will end on October 31 with the project of post-1945 European integration hanging in the balance.

Neither Mr Trichet nor the ECB deserves to be accused of causing or prolonging Europe’s financial sector and sovereign debt crises. Responsibility rests largely with national politicians and policymakers. They mismanaged their public finances and delayed economic reforms needed to strengthen competitiveness. They tolerated private sector debt binges and reckless bank lending. They let at least one country – Greece – adopt the euro before it was ready.

These blunders, and the inadequate repair work of the past two years, now threaten the survival of a monetary union whose original design was flawed. Few governments can escape blame. Germany and France rewrote the budget deficit rules in the European Union’s stability and growth pact.