jean - claude trichet : macroeconomic policies, imbalances and the need to avoid going back to the status quo ante address by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, at the annual joint parliamentary meeting, european parliament, brussels, 16 february 2009. * * * monsieur le president du parlement europeen, monsieur le president du senat de la republique tcheque, monsieur le president de la chambre des deputes de la republique tcheque, mesdames et messieurs les parlementaires europeens et les parlementaires nationaux, je me rejouis beaucoup de participer a cette reunion interparlementaire a bruxelles. alors que nous ne sommes qu ’ a la mi - fevrier, c ’ est deja ma troisieme rencontre cette annee avec le parlement europeen. cela montre encore une fois a quel point le dialogue entre la banque centrale europeenne et le parlement est etroit. auch heute steht unser austausch im zeichen der außergewohnlichen wirtschaftlichen lage. die weltwirtschaft erfahrt einen starken konjunkturellen abschwung. dieser hat mittlerweile auch die eu erfasst. regierungen, parlamente und zentralbanken haben rasch und entschlossen reagiert. ich mochte heute auf einen aspekt hinweisen, der mir besonders wichtig erscheint ; namlich, dass wir bei all unserer entschlossenheit nicht die notwendige mittelfristige orientierung unserer entscheidungen aus den augen verlieren. diesen aspekt mochte ich ihnen erlautern. our primary and most immediate task as policy - makers is to help resolve this crisis, in cooperation with the private sector. we need to address the fundamental causes underlying the crisis : in the international financial system, in the international setting of macroeconomic policies and in the international financial architecture. and yet, we also need to make sure that our decisions today

vitor constancio : effectiveness of monetary union and the capital markets union contribution of mr vitor constancio, vice - president of the european central bank, for the magazine of the eurofi conference in malta ( 5 - 7 april 2017 ), 4 april 2017. * * * the euro area recovery is continuing at a moderate, but firming pace, and is broadening gradually across sectors and countries. the ecb ’ s monetary policy measures have been a key contributor to these positive developments, and the only expansionary macroeconomic policy in support of the recovery. real gdp growth has expanded for 15 consecutive quarters, growing by 0. 5 % during the final quarter of 2016. dispersion in growth rates across euro area countries has fallen. economic sentiment is at its highest level in nearly six years. the unemployment rate is back down to single - digit figures and over four million more europeans are employed now than three years ago. since the onset of the crisis, the ecb has put in place a number of conventional and unconventional monetary policy measures to stimulate the economy and rehabilitate the monetary transmission mechanism, which had become impaired at the height of the crisis. this comprehensive range of measures has worked its way through the financial system, leading to a significant easing of financing conditions for consumers and firms. together with improving financial and non - financial sector balance sheets, this has strengthened credit dynamics and supported domestic demand. bank lending rates for both euro area households and non - financial corporations have fallen by over 110 basis points since june 2014. lending rates for small and medium - sized enterprises, which provide two - thirds of total private sector employment in the euro area, have declined by over 180 basis points. the sharp reduction in bank lending rates has been accompanied by easier access to funding, as recent ecb surveys on bank lending and access to finance have shown. but it is not just lending rates that are more favourable. bank lending volumes have also been gradually recovering since early 2014. annual growth in credit to euro area households increased in january to 2. 2 % and growth in credit to businesses remained at 2. 3 % – the highest growth rates in more than four years. market - based funding conditions, too, have improved significantly in response to the corporate sector purchase programme launched in june 2016. while monetary policy has been the mainstay of the recovery, there are other potential sources of macroeconomic stabilisation. given the heterogeneity of countries across the euro area, the lack