time and the goods can be released immediately. in addition, they have a security advantage, insofar as the merchant does not have to handle and store his clients ’ confidential banking details. we welcome that the epc is currently developing a framework for the interoperability of such online payment schemes. the eurosystem strongly encourages the epc to finalise the e - payments framework in the near future. moreover, we encourage the epc to consider establishing a european e - payments scheme or to taking over one of the existing schemes. capgemini, rbs and efma, world payments report 2009, september 2009. ecb, payments statistics ( formerly known as the blue book ) ( see www. ecb. europa. eu ). moving forward with an e - payments solution give a flying start to “ sepa for online payments ”. moreover, it could take the wind out of the sails of providers who make use of banks ’ infrastructures but are not subject to the same strict security requirements. in my view, security is of crucial importance, especially for the online world. overall, e - sepa online services would come to the great benefit of corporate customers and consumers. at the same time, e - sepa will be an additional revenue source to the banking sector. when can the payments industry expect to reach the full sepa finishing line? as i have outlined, the key implication of sepa is that the whole economy – consumers, corporates and banks – will benefit from it. so how can we bring this project closer to success? let me mention two important ingredients, namely, first, a further improvement in the sepa governance and, second, the necessity of a sepa migration end date. on first point : sepa governance. the epc clearly plays a pivotal role in organising the stakeholder involvement around the design of the sepa products, currently the sct and sdd rulebooks, and the sepa cards framework. however, the governance of a project like sepa requires that stakeholder involvement at the european level is made more balanced, bringing together stakeholders from all sides of the sepa project. a new body could be created with a wide range of stakeholders represented in order to discuss and resolve issues that are hindering the realisation of sepa. such a governance body is not intended to replace the european payments council, which is delivering useful work from the supply side. the main objective is to involve also the demand side and the

balances. in general, irrespective of how well - designed the monetary policy may be, in the absence of adequate complementary policies, it is likely to achieve sub - optimal outcomes. i would like to end by trying to answer, based on my experience as a central banker, two simple questions related to inflation and real convergence that concern not only romania, but also other catching - up economies. with regard to inflation, one may ask “ how much is too much? ”. i believe that the answer does not lie in pinning down certain numbers, but in the commitment to maintain a relatively low and stable inflation in the medium and long run. experience has taught me that inflation is an insidious disease that should not be treated carelessly. with respect to real convergence, a question raised by many is “ how fast is fast enough? ”. again, i would not look for a certain figure ; i would tackle this issue by approaching real convergence not as a race where the fastest track is also the right one, but rather as a complex process giving the steady runner ( a marathoner rather than a sprinter ) the opportunity to reap most of the potential benefits, while avoiding excessive risks. much like the fable about the turtle and the rabbit, which we all know how it ends... beyond targets and levels, and irrespective of the convergence gap an economy faces or the monetary policy regime a central bank opts for, what matters for both real convergence and price stability ( as part of nominal convergence ) is the consistency and the sustainability of the effort. in other words, being and staying on the right track. thank you. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches