. the restrictions on the free movement of workers from eastern europe after the eu enlargement of 2004 will be gradually phased out ; they no longer apply to poland. enhanced procedures in the cross - border recognition of higher education diplomas, easing the issue of pension transfers and a better networking of job agencies across europe come immediately to mind as ways to further increase the mobility of workers. as i said, a growth package should not be confused with the idea of large - scale spending programmes. nevertheless, growth - enhancing measures will not come for free in each case. for the funding, financial instruments of the european investment bank ( eib ) could be used, for example project bonds to support infrastructure projects. more generally, funds from the eu budget should be redirected to areas where the money is really needed and where its impact would be greatest. member states have to move away from “ juste retour ” thinking. 2. “ the ecb is moving on very thin ice. its actions increase inflationary risks in the euro area. ” let me now address the recent action taken by the ecb. in particular, i would like to focus on the two three - year longer - term refinancing operations ( ltros ) that we conducted in december 2011 and february 2012. any assessment of the impact of the ltros on the real economy would be premature at this stage. it is true that bank lending to the private sector is still very much subdued. but the data up to march confirm that the ltros have reduced deleveraging pressures for banks and helped to avoid a major credit crunch in the euro area. a number of questions have been raised about these operations. the most important concern is that the ltros increase inflationary pressures. a large injection of central bank liquidity could, in principle, give rise to inflationary risks. inflationary risks would increase if a massive rise in firms ’ demand for credit was met by an bis central bankers ’ speeches equally massive increase in banks ’ capacity and willingness to supply credit. these conditions are clearly not met at the moment. as with all other measures the ecb has taken, the ltros are fully in line with our guiding principle : the maintenance of price stability. we constantly monitor the developments of credit and money in the euro area. if inflationary risks were to emerge, we would take the necessary action to prevent these risks from materialising and withdraw any excess liquidity. when we measure monetary liquidity, we do not look

. the final judgment now rests on our being able to show that cohesion also produces growth and jobs. the second reason why a stronger role for the union could be beneficial is that, similar to fiscal policies, establishing rules at the level of the union may in fact help national authorities implement reform. structural reforms reach deep enough into societal arrangements and practices that they can only succeed if they are made the object of strong domestic ownership. at the same time, those reforms require substantial political capital. historical experience, for example of the imf, makes a convincing case that the discipline imposed by supranational bodies can make bis central bankers ’ speeches it easier to frame the debate on reforms at the national level. in particular, the debate can be framed not in terms of whether, but in terms of how reform needs to take place. in other words, i am not convinced by the argument that, in terms of structural reforms, there is an opposition between rules and ownership. on the contrary, they can be mutually reinforcing. conclusion in conclusion, there is a strong case for us to apply the same principles to the governance of structural reforms as we do to fiscal governance. the essential cohesion of the union depends on it. with the benefit of hindsight, it would have been useful to establish, alongside the existing convergence criteria, a set of structural criteria that had to be met to enter the euro area, and then respected once inside. but we have to start from where we are. thus, i would see merits in initiating, as a one - off, a new convergence process within the euro area – one which ensures that all countries are truly in a position to benefit from membership, and that none cause harm to another. today, national governments are not able to fully exercise their sovereignty alone, whether sovereignty is defined normatively, a la jean bodin, in terms of inalienable rights, such as to declare war and treat the conditions of the peace, to judge in last resort, to raise taxes and to mint money ; or whether it is defined positively, a la john locke, in terms of a fiduciary power to act for certain ends. individually, national governments are simply not powerful enough. to serve their purpose, they have to learn to govern together ; they have to learn to be sovereign together so as to respond to their citizens ’ needs. those needs today are growth and job creation. bis central bankers ’ speeches