remuneration for management and directors should be transparent and not excessive. management structure must be clear, and management must be held accountable to shareholders and the board for their actions and performance. above all, the company must be transparent in its communications with its shareholders and stakeholders. this would include in particular the prompt reporting of full financial and risk information and the disclosure of the governance structure and governance performance of the company. i would therefore encourage companies, their boards and their management to take the new code seriously and adopt it wholeheartedly if they wish to attract new investment and to retain the confidence of existing investors and other stakeholders in a post – subprime world. thank you.

, this structure has functioned relatively well and there is no need for a major overhaul. in some areas there is a clear case for permanently adopting a differentiated approach, for example in the case of labour market policies. harmonisation in this field would hamper the very flexibility of prices and wages that each country, or even region or sector of the national economy should pursue for monetary union to be successful. in other areas, such as tax policies, there may be a gradual development towards more co - ordination between member states. diversity and differentiation should not in themselves be viewed as reflecting a lack of economic governance. on the contrary, the experience of the recent past bears out that this form of governance works well in practice. for instance, decentralised wage setting has led to broadly appropriate wage development in the recent past and contributed to employment growth. monetary policy has kept inflation under control and reacted swiftly under circumstances which have sometimes been difficult. on the whole, fiscal policies have also reacted in a way which is compatible with both the economic environment and their medium - term objectives. all in all, there is clear evidence that policy - makers have acted appropriately in all three areas. conclusion let me conclude. the cash changeover has been a resounding success. from a logistical point of view this operation proceeded very smoothly, thanks in large part to the comprehensive preparatory work undertaken by all involved. the people of the euro area countries have adapted to the new currency much more quickly than the ecb and the national central banks anticipated. in addition, notwithstanding the adverse price shocks to which the euro area has recently been subject, the prospects are good that annual inflation rates will return to below 2 % in the coming months. overall the ecb's monetary policy has been successful in maintaining stable long - term inflation expectations in a difficult environment. it is important to maintain the disciplinary effect of the stability and growth pact ; recent experience has shown how quickly a budgetary position can deteriorate, thus highlighting the importance of reaching and maintaining medium - term budgetary positions close to balance or in surplus. structural policy is an area in which further action is also urgently needed. finally, the economic policy framework of the euro area has been functioning satisfactorily, even in the largely unprecedented circumstances of 2001. thank you very much for your attention. i am now open to questions.