italy and the others? before the crisis there were marked differences in wage costs and competitiveness, in greece in particular. these persistent differences have created serious tensions within the euro area. macroeconomic imbalance adjustments are not made via the exchange rate in the monetary union. that ’ s why it ’ s essential that the labour market and the goods and services markets work well. the bank for international settlements is worried about risks caused by monetary policies that are too accommodative. what ’ s your reply to that? our main objective is to ensure price stability. the financial crisis has created deflationary risks. our monetary policy measures have played a key role in the economic recovery, which is necessary for inflation to gradually return to levels in line with our objective. the question is knowing whether the central bank has gone too far in its monetary policy easing. now that the gap between growth potential and real activity is narrowing, have we accomplished our mission? at this stage, my reply is no. the economic expansion that is under way is not yet feeding through into higher inflation. we are not changing our priorities, but we must take into account the improvement in economic conditions when calibrating our measures. should an end date for qe be announced? no new decision has been taken since the governing council meeting on 7 september. we had concluded that a very accommodative monetary policy stance would remain essential to our mission and that we would decide in the autumn on the calibration of our purchase programme for the period beyond the end of the year. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

peter praet : interview in les echos interview with mr peter praet, member of the executive board of the european central bank, in les echos, conducted by ms isabelle couet and ms catherine chatignoux on 25 september 2017 and published on 29 september 2017. * * * the german election is over. in your opinion, does the result hamper the chances of reforming the euro area? what ’ s important for us, beyond countries ’ electoral calendars, is a stable currency and stable prices. today, the institutional reforms needed to strengthen the euro area after this decade of crises must be successfully completed. the sovereign debt crisis of 2010 – 12 exposed the euro area ’ s weaknesses, in particular the lack of a single system of banking supervision and a collective crisis management mechanism. in terms of european governance, what is the priority? the priority is to finalise the banking union, in other words to truly break the bank - sovereign nexus. it is commendable that financial institutions have reduced their exposures to the public debt of their respective countries since the crisis. however, banks are still too exposed to their domestic economies. the banking union is currently still too much of a collection of national banking systems. the euro area has established a single supervision mechanism for the banking sector and the basis for a single resolution mechanism for distressed banks. but, in the case of public intervention, too much of the ultimate responsibility still remains at national level. a genuine single resolution fund needs to be set up, without delay, at european level, to ensure the stability of economic and monetary union. in concrete terms, how do we get there? the banking union will remain incomplete for as long as each banking subsidiary in a country is obliged to fulfil all the conditions regarding capital and liquidity. the aim of the banking union is for banks to be able to manage their balance sheets as a single entity, regardless of their location in the euro area. the strategy for getting there is a combination of reducing banking risks, in particular by strengthening regulatory requirements, and increasing the power of the single resolution fund. unfortunately, a binding timetable that would entail a fundamental reconfiguration of the european banking landscape has met with reservations. but it is key to ensuring the stability of the european banking system and the successful transmission of the ecb ’ s monetary policy decisions. so do you support the creation of a european monetary fund? yes, this is the other main priority for the euro area.