smoothly and successfully as the changeover to the euro on 1 january 1999. 3. comments on other activities of the eurosystem as far as the other activities of the eurosystem are concerned, during 2000, the eurosystem continued to devote great attention to the issue of how to improve cross - border retail payment services within the euro area. in pursuit of its policy to act as a catalyst for change, the eurosystem has continued to organise meetings with the european banking sector and payment system industry in order to monitor the progress achieved with regard to the seven objectives defined by the eurosystem. in september last year, the eurosystem published a progress report, which concluded that progress has been achieved in some areas, such as the agreement on standards allowing straight - through processing, the lightening and harmonisation of the balance - of - payments reporting requirements and the establishment of a cross - border low - value payment system by the european banking association. however, in several other areas further progress is needed, in particular with a view to further reducing the level of fees charged to retail customers. therefore, the eurosystem will continue to closely monitor the progress with regard to the fulfilment of its stated objectives in this field. to this end, a new progress report is intended for publication in early 2002. to conclude my opening remarks, let me turn to the annual accounts of the ecb for last year. the ecb made a net profit amounting to eur 1, 990 million, after setting aside an agreed provision of eur 2, 600 million against its large exchange rate exposure. this profit is also net of remuneration amounting to eur 1, 375 million of the claims by the national central banks of the eurosystem on the ecb with respect to the foreign reserve assets that had been transferred to the ecb at the beginning of 1999. in the course of last year, the ecb further increased its number of staff by 209, and it currently employs around 1, 000 staff members from all 15 eu member states. the ecb's budget for 2001 foresees an increase in the number of staff by around 7 % compared with last year. overall, the ecb looks back over the first years of the single monetary policy with satisfaction. developments since the start of monetary union have confirmed that the ecb has chosen a solid and efficient framework for monetary policy. the ecb's monetary policy strategy has offered a robust guide for

and industry. if all policy actors take the steps which are needed in their field of competence, i am very optimistic for the future of the euro area. 2. preparation of the introduction of euro banknotes and coins let me now turn to a crucial event in the history of european monetary integration, the introduction of euro banknotes and coins on 1 january 2002. the thorough and careful preparation of this historic moment continues to be one of the foremost priorities of the eurosystem. in order to facilitate a cost - efficient and smooth introduction of the euro banknotes and coins, the governing council of the ecb agreed on a guideline ( ecb / 2001 / 1 ) adopting certain provisions on the cash changeover scenario, which entered into force in january this year. all national central banks of the euro area have now fully implemented this guideline. with regard to the production of euro banknotes, i can report that this is on track. the governing council of the ecb has also approved an additional production of euro banknotes of about 10 % of the launch requirements. this central reserve stock of euro banknotes will further contribute to a smooth cash changeover. as part of the efforts to prepare for the threat posed by forgery of the euro, the ecb is establishing a counterfeit analysis centre and a counterfeit monitoring system in order to enhance the protection of the euro by providing comprehensive technical and statistical information on counterfeiting. this information will be available to all relevant competent authorities including national police authorities, europol and the european commission. the euro 2002 information campaign has been launched. the ecb has set up a specific website giving information on the introduction of the euro, and a series of conferences in the euro area is being organised. at the end of august, we will unveil the security features of the euro banknotes and start a mass media information campaign. within the framework of our partnership programme, we are inviting public and private organisations to participate in the task of informing the public. the introduction of the euro banknotes and coins will enhance the visibility of the single currency : in eight months'time, the public will identify the eurosystem and the euro with the images of the euro banknotes. the banknotes will be the face of the euro and, thereby, instrumental in further increasing public and financial market confidence in the single currency. in view of the comprehensive preparations which are currently under way, i am confident that the introduction of euro banknotes and coins will proceed as