in our plans, will reinforce accommodation and make sure that inflation convergence develops strong foundations. but our mission is not yet accomplished. we need patience and persistence. we need to be patient, because inflation convergence needs more time to show through convincingly in the data. the euro area ’ s economic environment is improving, and the negative tail risks to inflation expectations, which were so visible at the start of our asset purchase program, have virtually disappeared. this strengthens our confidence that headline inflation will gradually move towards the governing council ’ s objective of below, but close to, 2 % over the medium term. but measured inflation remains exceedingly volatile and metrics of underlying price pressures continue to be subdued. the entire distribution of inflation expectations still needs to shift a fair distance to the right. we need to be persistent, because the baseline scenario for inflation going forward remains crucially contingent on very easy financing conditions which, to a large extent, depend on the current accommodative monetary policy stance. therefore, maintaining a steady hand continues to be critical to fostering a durable convergence of inflation toward our monetary policy aim. 1 see, for example, european commission, european economic forecast, spring 2017. 2 see, european commission, business and consumer survey results, june 2017. see the ecb ’ s euro area bank lending survey, april 2017, and the ecb ’ s survey on the access to finance of enterprises in the euro area, october 2016 to march 2017. for more details on the impact of the tltros, see “ the targeted longer - term refinancing operations : an overview of the take - up and their impact on bank intermediation ”, economic bulleting, issue 3, box 5, ecb, 2017. 5 see ecb ( 2017 ), “ assessing labour market slack ”, box 3, economic bulletin, issue 3. for further discussion, see “ recent wage trends in the euro area ”, economic bulletin, issue 3, box 2, ecb 2016. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

for central banks, and it matters a lot. and this is why, both at global and european level, the contribution of central banks to ccp supervision has been fully recognised. the current global standards for ccp risk management were issued jointly by central banks and capital markets commissions under the auspices of the committee on payments and market infrastructures and the international organization of securities commissions, cpmi - iosco. 3 furthermore, the european market infrastructure regulation ( emir ) requires central banks – in their capacity as central banks of issue ( cbi ) of an eu currency – to be represented in the ccp supervisory colleges and to endorse supervisory decisions taken by national authorities. central banks are key knowledge centres for furthering the understanding of central clearing and its implications for financial stability. i believe i speak for many central bankers in saying that, as things stand today, these global standards and the eu regulatory framework provide us with appropriate tools, on the whole, for monitoring and addressing potential risks stemming from central clearing. we should not be reticent about recognising the overall progress made since the financial crisis in increasing the safety and resilience of financial market infrastructures in general, and ccps in particular. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches nonetheless, there is no room for complacency. cpmi - iosco and other international bodies have been working tirelessly to address the gaps in the global requirements for ccp risk management. certain jurisdictions are more advanced than others in establishing cooperative oversight arrangements and in inviting relevant authorities from other jurisdictions to participate. authorities around the world have also recently started thinking seriously about supervisory stress testing for ccps. 4 but there is still much to understand about the interdependencies between central counterparties and the broader financial system : international standard setting bodies will shortly be publishing the results of the global study group on central clearing interdependencies, which should shed some more light on this topic. this is also an issue we need to keep in mind when discussing the recovery and resolution of ccps – a point being considered by international fora as we speak5, as well as in the context of the forthcoming eu regulation, for which we will shortly be publishing an ecb opinion. more fundamentally, of course, the uk ’ s decision to leave the eu is prompting a significant rethink of the european approach to the supervision of systemically important global ccps. the major clearing houses in the uk provide key services to continental banks active