based on principles, rules and institutions that protect freedoms, rights and the rule of law to avoid abuse of powers. on the one hand, legitimacy in such a system requires that all european citizens, our demos, have a choice and a voice. on the other, it is grounded in fundamental rules that form the basis of our social contract. nevertheless, ensuring legitimacy is not a one - off activity ; it requires an ongoing effort by institutions. let me look at the example of the ecb, of which i have the honour to be vice - president. the ecb ’ s democratic mandate is laid down in the eu treaties, which were ratified in all member states according to their constitutional requirements. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches within this mandate, and to fulfil the euro - area wide objectives assigned to the ecb, the ecb has discretion to use its instruments as necessary. and its independence is protected, precisely to ensure that the legitimacy of its decisions is not undermined by accusations of political interference for short - term electoral gains. as a necessary counterpart to that independence, the ecb is accountable to the european parliament, which represents the people of the eu. this is complemented by judicial review of the ecb ’ s decisions by the court of justice of the eu and the audit of the operational efficiency of the management of the ecb by the european court of auditors. all these elements allow us to show that we are acting in accordance with our mandate and not arbitrarily. we take our accountability to the european parliament very seriously. over the years, we have developed a strong and comprehensive accountability framework, which goes beyond the treaty requirements. we can affirm that the european parliament has been very diligent in its regular and in - depth scrutiny. as one should expect, the intensity of this scrutiny was stepped up during the crisis. 1 the role of parliaments in fostering a better functioning emu the ecb ’ s experience shows how a well - functioning emu requires strong institutions, strong rules and strong accountability. they are complementary and mutually reinforcing in pursuing input and output legitimacy, i. e. ensuring that institutions function smoothly and perform well. any discussion on what should be done requires us to look at how we can ensure democratic legitimacy and accountability. this is particularly true for decisions on economic and fiscal matters, which are highly political ; though enshrined in national democracies, they are subject to common european rules. in

hermann remsperger : remittances welcome speech by professor dr hermann remsperger, member of the executive board of the deutsche bundesbank, at the g8 outreach meeting on " remittances ", berlin, 29 november 2007. * * * i. it is my pleasure to welcome you to this dinner on the occasion of the g8 outreach meeting on “ remittances ”. i would also like to welcome you on behalf of karin kortmann, parliamentary secretary of the federal ministry for economic cooperation and development. as far as i know, this is the first time that the federal ministry for economic cooperation and development and the bundesbank jointly host such a dinner. i could well imagine that there will be further opportunities to do so in the future. as a central bank, we take a keen interest in financial sector issues, because monetary stability and financial stability go hand in hand. therefore, we are closely following the world bank ’ s financial market activities, including its strategies for strengthening the financial systems in developing and emerging market economies. in this context, let me mention a conference we organised jointly with the federal ministry of finance in frankfurt in may this year. this conference provided input for the g8 action plan for the development of local bond markets in emerging market and developing countries. and i am happy to say that we will continue to play an active role in this area. in close cooperation with the finance ministry, the bundesbank is organizing a workshop at the end of january which will primarily deal with the broadening of the database on local currency bond markets in the light of financial stability. furthermore, the bundesbank has also built up direct ties with the ministry for economic cooperation and development. this gives us a useful insight into the activities of the world bank and the regional development banks. equally, we are happy to share our technical expertise on financial market issues with your ministry, ms kortmann, as background information for the german position at these institutions. ii. ladies and gentlemen, we are here today in the museum for communication. i think this location was well chosen. communication and remittances have some things in common – both involve a sender and a receiver. if the process of relating the sender to the receiver is well designed, it should be beneficial to both. in the context of remittances and seen from the perspective of an individual receiver, remittances can be a substantial part of household income.