in what concerns the extension of the policy toolkit. on that note, i warmly congratulate you, stijn, on winning the 2016 german bernacer prize for promoting economic research in europe. i am confident that you will make further important contributions in the years to come. 1 reinhart, c. m. and k. s. rogoff, ( 2009 ), “ this time is different, eight centuries of financial folly ”, princeton, new jersey : princeton university press. 2 work at the ecb finds evidence that financial cycles, defined as the joint movement of house prices and credit, are the single best predictors of banking crises ( see schuler, y., p. hiebert and t. peltonen, ( 2016 ), “ coherent financial cycles : why extending credit can be an asset ”, ssrn working paper. this analysis builds on work carried out at the bis ; see drehmann, m., c. borio, and k. tsatsaronis, ( 2012 ), “ characterising the financial cycle : don ’ t lose sight of the medium term! ”, bis working paper no 380. 3 piazzesi, m. and m. schneider, ( 2016 ), “ housing and macroeconomics ”. mimeo. 4 lustig, h. and s. van nieuwerburgh, ( 2005 ), “ housing collateral, consumption insurance, and risk premia : an empirical perspective ”, journal of finance, 60, 1167 – 1219. 5 favilukis, j., s. c. ludvigson and s. van nieuwerburgh, ( forthcoming ), “ the macroeconomic effects of housing wealth, housing finance, and limited risk - sharing in general equilibrium ”, journal of political economy. 6 favilukis, j., d. kohn, s. c. ludvigson and s. van nieuwerburgh, ( 2013 ), “ international capital flows and house prices : theory and evidence, in housing and the financial crisis ”, edited by e. l. glaeser and t. sinai, 235 – 299, chicago : university of chicago press. 7 kelly, b., h. lustig and s. van nieuwerburgh, ( 2016 ), “ too - systemic - to - fail : what option markets imply about sector - wide government guarantees ”, american economic

awareness and to prepare them for the cash changeover at the beginning of 2002, the governing council agreed to organise a series of conferences on euro changeover issues in the course of 2001. these conferences will bring together the key parties involved in the euro cash changeover process, both at the national and at the european level, with a view to focusing on the cash changeover preparations. this action should also be seen against the background of the conclusions of the european council meeting in nice on 7 to 9 december 2000. third, the governing council decided that tests on the euro banknotes will be carried out in all euro area countries in 2001. these tests will offer companies an opportunity to check and fine - tune their cash and / or vending machines and sensors with regard to their being able to recognise and accept euro banknotes. they will be organised by the euro area national central banks ; the bank of england will also be invited to participate. the ecb will monitor the test scenario in order to ensure a consistent approach and will act as the contact point for companies registered in a country without a test centre. fourth, further to the ecb ’ s press release of 3 august 2000, when the decisions of the governing council regarding the euro area financial modalities for the 2002 cash changeover were announced, the governing council agreed on general principles for the so - called frontloading and sub - frontloading of euro banknotes outside the euro area as from 1 december 2001. today ’ s decision, which complements the principles agreed with regard to the frontloading and subfrontloading of euro banknotes inside the euro area, has to be seen as a contribution to ensuring a smooth cash changeover in 2002. you will find further information relating to this decision in a separate press release to be issued this afternoon. with regard to target, the governing council decided to establish a long - term calendar of target operating days to be applied from 2002 onwards. the establishment of such a common long - term calendar was deemed necessary in order to reduce uncertainties for financial markets. in addition to saturdays and sundays, target as a whole, including both domestic and cross - border transactions, will be closed for a total of six days in the calendar year. you will find further information relating to this decision in a separate press release to be issued this afternoon. the governing council also adopted several legal acts related to the field of accounting, which will be published shortly in the official journal of the european communities. these acts relate to the legal