mario draghi : interview with europe 1 interview with mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, with europe 1, conducted by mr jean - pierre elkabbach on 23 september 2014, aired on 24 september 2014. * * * europe 1 : you have already acted decisively in june and september. if unemployment continues to grow, can the ecb continue to stimulate the economy? monetary policy will stay accommodative for a long time and i can say that the governing council is unanimous in its commitment to use the available instruments within its mandate to bring inflation back to close but below 2 %. interest rates will stay at the present level for an extended period of time because they can ’ t go much lower than that. in europe, is there a risk today of deflation or even of recession? for the euro area as a whole we don ’ t see risk of deflation. we see risk of too low inflation for too long a time and for the euro area as a whole, as i ’ ve said many times our recovery is modest, weak, uneven, and fragile, but it ’ s not recession. do you have a lot of liquidity at the ecb? yes, we ’ ve shown that we have a lot of liquidity in the ecb. and could you show it again? and we ’ re certainly, as i said before, we ’ re certainly ready to use all the instruments within our mandate to make sure that … to obtain more of growth by 2017, 2018 : what needs to be done? one talks about developing infrastructure and about investing. how? where to invest? i said before that monetary policy can ’ t be the only thing producing growth. there must be two other components. one is structural reforms. we can provide as much credit as we can to the private sector. but, if for a young entrepreneur it takes months in some countries before he can have the permits, the authorisations, to open a new shop he will not ask for this credit. so let ’ s abolish bureaucracy. yes, indeed and if this young entrepreneur would like to open a new shop and finally has the permit but he is overburdened by taxation, he will not apply for credit. so credit is the necessary but not sufficient condition to have growth. in your building, at the ecb, when one thinks about france, does one say that france is the sick man of europe? well, frankly, i must

jorg asmussen : new ecb premises topping out ceremony welcome address by mr jorg asmussen, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the new ecb premises topping out ceremony, frankfurt am main, 20 september 2012. * * * ladies and gentlemen, fellow members of the governing council and general council, sehr geehrter herr oberburgermeister feldmann, sehr geehrter herr pollath, sehr geehrter herr professor prix, sehr geehrte damen und herren, today ’ s ceremony marks another significant milestone for the ecb ’ s new home and for the city of frankfurt. the last time we came together here, for the ceremony to mark the laying of the foundation stone in spring 2010, the grossmarkthalle and a large pit were the dominant features of the construction site, with the works not yet having begun. the ecb ’ s then president, jean - claude trichet, warmly welcomed the construction companies and their workers. today, two years and four months later, the site looks quite different. we owe this remarkable achievement to the many people who have been involved in this enormous project. on behalf of all my colleagues on the governing council, i would like to congratulate all of you who have helped to create this unique building complex. im namen aller meiner kollegen des ezb - rats mochte ich allen gratulieren, die dazu beigetragen haben, diesen einzigartigen gebaudekomplex zu errichten. some of you have been involved in this project from the very beginning, others joined at the planning stage and then, once the construction companies and their workers arrived on site, the number of project participants doubled. and yet more new partners will join us between now and when the new ecb premises are complete. i am impressed to see how coop himmelb ( l ) au ’ s vision has become reality over the last two years of intensive construction works. it was by the time i became member of the ecb ’ s executive board that the high - rise structure began to rise above the buildings around it. looking eastward from my office in the eurotower, i have been able to watch the towers grow, and now the high - rise can be seen from many locations within the city and even from outside the city. the main structural works for the high - rise have now been completed,