yves mersch : interview in la vanguardia interview with mr yves mersch, member of the executive board of the european central bank, in la vanguardia, conducted by ms beatriz navarro and published on 7 may 2015. * * * tsipras ’ reluctance to sign has surprised many. is an agreement with greece possible? few times have i seen europe so united, with the exception of one country, on the necessity to abide by the rules. those countries would not like to see all the achievements of the past, the efforts made, come to nought now that they are beginning to see the benefits. isn ’ t tsipras right in calling for a change in policy? eu and imf reports concede that the impact of the bailout on unemployment, gdp, etc. was greater than expected. in some sectors of the greek economy the magnitude of the effort seems larger than elsewhere. however, in the baltic states the adjustment has been, at the very least, the same as in greece. but the more you stray from the correct path ( and this country strayed the furthest ), the harder it is to return. if the pressure had not come from the institutions, markets would have asserted even more pressure on countries to adjust. and if you can ’ t get financing yourself and you rely on the money of taxpayers in other countries, you need to show that your citizens are also playing their part. that reality has been easier to accept in some countries than in others. is tsipras the good cop and varoufakis the bad cop? what do you make of the changes in the negotiating team? i only know that both were elected on the same electoral platform. it ’ s a matter of forms and substance, and sometimes the substance is more readily accepted if the forms are improved. would it be a good idea, as being mooted by tsipras, to hold a referendum on the bailout measures? as a central banker, it ’ s not for me to give advice to a prime minister on how to manage his democracy. papandreou tried and was prevented … looking back, would it have helped in 2011? there are also those who say that, had we looked closer at the statistics a number of years back, we would have saved ourselves all these discussions … how far back in time do you go? the best way of sharing sovereignty among european countries is by sticking to the rules. in 2011, when asked about the consequences of

of the eurogroup a permanent position could strengthen the institutional architecture of the euro area. how would the hypothetical independence of catalonia affect its relationship with the ecb? at the ecb we act according to regulations, and the treaties. we would adhere firmly to the legal provisions and we would not do anything that is not legal. what conditions would need to be met in order to gain a seat at the ecb? whether this is political fiction or not, i don ’ t know. but the ecb only acts on the basis of facts, not hypotheses. if the number of countries in the euro area were to increase then we would respect that, but there would be no shortcuts unless they are provided for by the treaty. the european commission has launched an investigation into the use of deferred tax assets ( dta ) in the banking sector in spain and various other countries. the ecb was very critical about dtas when it had to be evaluated during the banking stress tests. there are four countries that resorted to using these measures widely and the legislation that they adopted varies from one country to the next. i believe that we must look at each case separately and in context. personally i dislike the idea of resorting to attempts to create the impression that a balance sheet ’ s loss absorption capacity is greater than it is in reality. but in certain cases i believe that some tax claims can be of a higher value and more liquid than in others. in other countries, doubts about the situation in the public sector may be greater and the question arises as to whether or not tax claims are actually liquid or have the capacity to absorb losses in real time. because if you want them to be accepted as liquid assets, they must be immediately available. and call me old - fashioned, but i think that hard cash is the best form of capital. where does spain sit on the spectrum that you have described? the european commission will comment on that from the perspective of public aid in its evaluation. in our comprehensive assessment last year we were not very enthusiastic about it ( dtas ) but in the end we accepted it on legal grounds. but the most important thing for me is to have a level playing field and, as such, any legal clarification that arises as a result of the european commission ’ s assessment will be welcome. the spanish government states that this was designed in collaboration with the eu institutions, given that we were under the financial assistance programme for banks, and it