markets and the base scenario, if we want to do more, would be to acquire public debt on a large scale on the secondary market ( editor ’ s note : the resale market and not directly from governments ). until now, we have done it in a targeted way for securities ( covered bonds and abs ), which contribute directly to financing the economy. will these purchases be capped and will they involve all the countries? that ’ s a discussion that the governing council will have on 22 january. we will take into account the american and british experiences in order to decide on the amount of securities to buy in order to restore confidence in inflation returning to a level close to, but below, 2 %, while bearing in mind the economic and institutional specificities of the euro area. we also have to decide if the repurchases will focus on the debt of certain countries or if they should be weighted across the whole of the euro area. now that the interest rates are very low and the banks are not rushing to lend you money, is qe really necessary? at the height of the crisis, it would have allowed a lowering of rates, but today … the goal of qe is to provide confidence in the central bank ’ s ability to stabilise inflation. the way in which that works is to anchor the financing rate in the largest possible number of countries at very low levels in order to guarantee funding conditions for european businesses and households at very low rates for periods much longer than at present. what we have done so far has stabilised funding conditions over a horizon of one or two years. it ’ s a matter of adjusting the long - term funding conditions, notably ( but not only ) in the so - called periphery countries which are in most need of this support. if qe fails, you won ’ t have any more ammunition. throughout the crisis, the ecb has devised efficient instruments to face up to new situations, while remaining within the framework of its mandate. but let ’ s not delude ourselves : the efficiency of what we do will depend largely on what the governments are doing and will do in respect of budgets and structural reforms, quite simply because monetary policy has no impact on growth over the long term. that depends on the productivity of the economy, on human capital, the quality of education, social cohesion and also on the fact that public debt bis central bankers ’ speeches has come back under control. but note that that doesn ’ t mean that we should expect

national governments and european institutions, take joint action to rapidly revive economic activity. this imperative has become even more pressing in light of the paris attacks, which targeted the european values of freedom of expression, freedom of the press and freedom itself. in my opinion, the attacks have further highlighted, if possible, the fact that certain young people remain marginalised, dropouts, with no job, and at risk in extreme cases of turning to delinquency or even terrorism. without growth, this can only get worse. unity among europeans is a must, including in economic matters. europe needs a strong economy if it is to defend its values. could the attacks undermine confidence and ultimately lead to a drop in economic activity? i don ’ t think so. from what i have seen in frankfurt, i can testify that the attacks of 7 january have created a profound sense of unity and solidarity, not only in france but across europe. it is on this that we must build, in europe, as in france. bis central bankers ’ speeches has the ecb already exhausted all its instruments? interest rates are at 0. 05 %, you are lending money to banks for practically nothing ( four - year tltro loans are at 0. 15 % ), you are even making them pay to deposit money with the ecb, the euro has fallen against the dollar … the decisions that we took last summer have been efficient, as economic agents are now certain that conditions for borrowing are going to remain favourable for a long time. this has allowed us to protect the euro area economy from international financial shocks, linked in part to the normalisation of us monetary policy. the ecb has placed our economy in a “ cocoon ” to protect the fragile recovery from external shocks. does that mean that we have done enough? since summer 2014, economic growth has got off to a weaker - and slowerthan - expected start, and inflation is far below the 2 % of our mandate. this means that we have to react and, once again, come up with new instruments to support economic activity, as we have done several times since the beginning of the crisis. but whilst our actions are necessary for economic recovery, they will be efficient only if national governments act in parallel. so the ecb is ready to pursue us - style quantitative easing, that is, repurchasing government bonds? the governing council will meet on 22 january. the discussion will be about the composition and the scale of our purchases of assets on the