jens weidmann : forging strategic plans without a crystal ball – the importance of target - based management within the german authorities, with the bundesbank as a case study speech by dr jens weidmann, president of the deutsche bundesbank, at the top - level meeting on “ target - based management within the german authorities ”, berlin, 29 september 2014. * 1. * * opening remarks dr de maiziere mr bullerjahn professor weber professor hirsch mr weise ladies and gentlemen welcome to the bundesbank ’ s regional office in berlin and brandenburg. some of you may already have visited the regional office to attend one of the events in our “ bundesbank in dialogue ” series. if not, i can highly recommend it. three weeks ago, bundesbank experts were here providing information and fielding questions on the banking union. i hear that it was a very lively event. today, we aren ’ t here to discuss banks and the financial industry but to talk about ways to make our authorities and public institutions more effective overall, and i ’ m delighted that the bundesbank is hosting this event. 2. authorities need to adapt to new requirements the setting in which we operate is evolving so rapidly that we also need to be swift in implementing the necessary changes in the right way. the ever - changing possibilities and requirements in the world of it mean that we are constantly obliged to review our processes. only recently, the bundesbank set up a brand new data centre in the north of frankfurt to make its it infrastructure less prone to errors. growing european integration is also changing the requirements we face. this is, of course, particularly true of the bundesbank, as it forms part of the european system of central banks. yet the federal employment agency, the federal statistical office and the german patent office are also embedded in a european framework, which means that they think and act in a european context. and i ’ m sure that the same can be said of many of you here today. for some of us, the european setting not only means being being part of a european framework ; it also creates quite specific competitive pressures. this is again particularly true of the bundesbank ; it often offers the same services as the central banks of the other euroarea countries. yet it is not alone : the german weather services also have to compete with other providers in europe. eu - wide tenders are already being held for certain meterological services designed to ensure safe

air travel. the providers of these services therefore have to attract clients by offering top quality and service and competitive prices. in the world of politics, too, we are all competing with other ideas and approaches from across europe. how can monetary policy best respond to the gloomier economic outlook and bis central bankers ’ speeches price prospects? how should the single supervisory mechanism operate in future? what should we make of the idea to introduce a single european unemployment insurance scheme? these issues aren ’ t just on the bundesbank ’ s agenda ; they also occupy the german government and many of you here today, and they are met with a throng of proposals from across europe on how to address them. germany has rightly introduced a debt brake in response to the difficult public finance situation that this country is destined to face : fewer employees paying income tax and more pensioners. that is no easy scenario for our public coffers. the debt brake rules out the supposed “ quick fix ” of funding public expenditure through new borrowing. you don ’ t need a crystal ball to see that the pressure on public authorities to provide their services cost - effectively is set to increase. and public authorities will also face increasing competition : they will be competing for scarce funds. i make no secret of the fact that, in this regard, the bundesbank is undoubtedly in a better position than the public authorities. after all, it is not funded from the public coffers but from its own profit. but the bundesbank, too, is monitored by the federal court of auditors. any euro that it wastes is one euro less for the finance ministry. the tighter budget will also reduce the options open to public authorities – including their ability to fulfil the public ’ s wishes. i ’ m sure that is a fairly bitter pill for some of you to swallow, as focusing on the public ’ s needs has been made a major priority in recent years – and with great success. a very recent forsa study indicates that the public now rate the services provided by public authorities more positively than in previous years, which shows that they notice and appreciate these efforts. yet this means that, in future, the authorities will need to be even more creative and willing to innovate in order to meet the growing demand to address the public ’ s needs even when budgets are tight. even so, it will probably no longer be possible to fulfil some of the public ’ s wishes. for example, the bundes