. and, as i just said, over the first twelve years we have delivered average yearly inflation at the level of less than 2 % : it is a better result than the previous national currencies over the last 50 years, including the deutsche mark. here in aachen, i can say, the promise “ stark wie die mark ” has been fully respected. since the crisis we also had to cope with financial turbulences, abnormal functioning of markets and disruption of certain segments of markets. we showed our responsibility in taking monetary policy measures – we call them “ non standard ” decisions, strictly separated from the “ standard ” decisions, and aimed at restoring a better transmission of our monetary policy in these abnormal market conditions. all these “ non standard ” measures – whether exceptional refinancing with full allotment and longer duration, or the interventions in private or public securities markets – have been designed to be commensurate to the tensions observed on these markets and allow a better transmission of our interest rates decisions. in demonstrating both conviction and responsibility, the ecb has been, during the last four years, a reliable and solid anchor of stability to the service of our fellow citizens in the worst economic and financial circumstances since world war ii. had we not been able to present a solid anchor of stability and confidence, the recovery the euro area has experienced since may 2010 would probably have been very different. the increase in gdp of over 2. 5 % in the past 12 months would not have happened. the increase in employment by 350, 000 jobs since then might not have been there. bis central bankers ’ speeches in deciding on all our measures, standard and non - standard, we have the needle in the compass on our primary objective : price stability for the 331 million fellow citizens of the euro area. i wish to underline that achievements of the last 12 years have only been possible thanks to the remarkable dedication and expertise of the ecb executive board and governing council, to whom europe today, through the karspreis, is expressing its gratitude. the same gratitude goes to the 1, 400 staff members at the ecb in frankfurt. they come from all 27 countries of the eu. they are a shining example of professionalism and team spirit, of what it means to work together for europe. current challenges for governance just as the success of the euro as a currency is due to well - designed institutions, addressing emu ’ s difficulties requires a major strengthening of the rules and organisations that govern fiscal

positive response of the supply side of the economy to the reforms implemented over the past few years. employment has risen significantly, by more than 12 million people since the launch of the euro, and the unemployment rate has steadily declined to the lowest level since 1993, although it is still unacceptably high. moreover, we have recently witnessed an increase in productivity growth. although this seems to be mainly associated with cyclical factors, there is some evidence that, in certain sectors of the european economy, and in a number of euro area countries, efficiency gains of a structural or permanent nature are being achieved. for the euro area as a whole, however, it is too early to reach definite conclusions. in order to foster higher and sustained economic growth and job creation and enhance the capacity of euro area countries to adjust to shocks, further reforms are needed that can contribute to improving the efficiency, flexibility and adaptability of product, labour and financial markets. financial stability outlook i would now like to address a number of issues concerning financial stability and integration in the euro area. as you know, the ecb monitors and analyses risks to financial stability in order to assess the financial system ’ s shock - absorbing capacity. at the end of 2006, our assessment suggested that the main scenario for euro area financial stability remained broadly favourable. various considerations underpinned this judgement, including : first, global economic activity was expected to remain robust and become more evenly balanced ; second, the credit quality of banks ’ key counterparties – households and firms – generally remained high ; and third, euro area banks ’ profitability was anticipated to strengthen further, their solvency ratios comfortably exceeded regulatory requirements and risk management methods had greatly improved. against the background of the positive macroeconomic outlook and benign financing conditions, and in the light of the latest information on the euro area banks ’ performance, that assessment has been confirmed. at the same time, several pre - existing sources of risk and vulnerability remain and some of them might even have grown in importance. among the vulnerabilities in financial markets, i would like to highlight the following three : first, the low levels of long - term yields and credit spreads in some markets make them vulnerable to a reappraisal of risks ; second, unabated growth in the volume and complexity of new financial instruments, combined with the increasing presence of lightly regulated and highly leveraged financial institutions in the same markets could have made them vulnerable to disruptive adjustments with possibly unforeseen consequences as it is