wirtschaftliche dynamik im euroraum hat derjenigen in den vereinigten staaten in nichts nachgestanden. in beiden regionen ist das pro - kopf - einkommen im jahresdurchschnitt um etwa 1 % gestiegen. dabei hat der euroraum deutlich mehr beschaftigung geschaffen als die vereinigten staaten. im euroraum bis central bankers ’ speeches als ganzes ist die beschaftigung in den vergangenen zwolf jahren um mehr als 14 millionen gestiegen. in den vereinigten staaten betrug der anstieg 8 millionen. und all das haben wir erreicht vor dem hintergrund von inflationserwartungen im eurogebiet, die auf einem niedrigen niveau verankert sind. dies ist eine mehr als beachtliche bilanz. ich kann ihnen versichern, dass die europaische zentralbank auch in zukunft ihren teil zum reibungslosen funktionieren der wirtschafts - und wahrungsunion beitragen wird : wir werden ohne wenn und aber die preisstabilitat sichern. ich danke ihnen fur ihre aufmerksamkeit. bis central bankers ’ speeches

possible. this implies less room for halting or suspending procedures and stricter deadlines. behind this we argue in favour of stronger sanctions to encourage compliance. this would require, on the one hand, a wider range of financial and non - financial measures, and on the bis central bankers ’ speeches other hand, less discretion to reduce or suspend them. such a strengthening would improve effectiveness and set the right incentives. at the same time, more ambitious policy requirements would better match the current reality of the euro area. this means having ambitious benchmarks when establishing an excessive deficit and when setting the adjustment path towards a “ safe ” budgetary position. it is very important for macroeconomic surveillance to have a clear focus on the countries with the greatest vulnerabilities. anchoring these new rules at the national level would forcefully anchor them in national legislation. binding commitments by member states to implement strong national budgetary frameworks are key to ensuring national ownership. finally, further improvements in the production of fiscal statistics are in our view warranted. these are all areas in which the ecb is presenting arguments. in the end, these matters are decided by the council and the parliament, and they have therefore the key responsibility in shaping the new framework. ii. the ecb ’ s response to the crisis let me now turn to my final topic – the “ m ” in emu, which is the direct responsibility of the ecb. during the crisis, along with central banks around the world, the ecb has had to operate in uncharted waters. the ecb demonstrated its alertness from the very first day. when the problems in financial markets first became apparent on 9 august 2007, we were the first central bank to respond, acting within hours. while the crisis required fast and unprecedented action we have never lost sight of our primary objective : to maintain price stability over the medium term for the 331 million citizens of the euro area. all – and i emphasise all – our monetary policy decisions during the past twelve and a half years have aimed at delivering on that commitment. as you know, in normal times central banks mainly influence the economy and inflation through the setting of short - term interest rates. in practice, identifying risks to price stability at an early stage is far from trivial. to accomplish this task the ecb relies on a robust monetary policy strategy that draws on several sources of information. economic analysis allows us to synthesise information on short - term inflationary pressures from a multitude of economic indicators