and nothing but the treaty. is there really no political pressure? everyone in europe and the rest of the world knows that the ecb is independent, even on the major financial markets of new york, tokyo, singapore and hong kong. there is no doubt about that. the ecb's credibility, which stands at a very high level, relies on its independence. it is that independence which allows us to solidly anchor inflation expectations. our credibility is reinforced by the strong team spirit within the eurosystem – including our excellent relationship with the bundesbank and its president axel weber – and within the ecb's executive board, which features of course my colleague jurgen stark. but in the view of many consumers, the introduction of the euro actually pushed up inflation. at the level of the euro area, we have had inflation under control since the introduction of the euro. i know that the people are calling on us very strongly to deliver price stability. they can count on us doing that, in cooperation with the bundesbank and all the other national central banks in the eurosystem. with the economic upswing, the demands of the trade unions increase too. in germany, for instance, ig metall is demanding a 6. 5 % increase in wages. wage moderation is and will remain important not just in germany, but all over europe. i say on behalf of the governing council that moderate increases in labour costs have been a key factor in increasing employment and reducing unemployment over the last few years. you have helped to shape the euro. many europeans, however, seem dissatisfied and, according to opinion polls, want their old currencies back. is the euro really a success story? a very reliable survey conducted by gallup for the european commission last november reported that 48 % of europeans found the euro to be an advantage, compared with less than 38 % finding it to be a disadvantage. positive developments have been seen in employment since the introduction of the euro, with 12 million new jobs created in the euro area during those eight years. in the eight years before the introduction of the euro less than three million jobs were created. since 2003 your place of work has been frankfurt. do you miss paris a lot? it was quite a change. paris is actually irreplaceable. does it often draw you back? not that often. i now live in frankfurt and feel good. how many days a week do you spend there? it's difficult to say.

consider that the key ecb interest rates are at levels that are making a substantial contribution to the ongoing disinflation process. our future decisions will ensure that our policy rates will stay sufficiently restrictive for as long as necessary. if our updated assessment of the inflation outlook, the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission were to further increase our confidence that inflation is converging to our target in a sustained manner, it would be appropriate to reduce the current level of monetary policy restriction. in any event, we will continue to follow a data - dependent and meeting - by - meeting approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction, and we are not precommitting to a particular rate path. in any case, we stand ready to adjust all of our instruments within our mandate to ensure that inflation returns to our medium - term target and to preserve the smooth functioning of monetary policy transmission. we are now ready to take your questions. 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches