willem f duisenberg : time to say goodbye address delivered by dr willem f duisenberg, president of the european central bank, on the occasion of a special ecofin dinner to pay tribute to his leadership of the european central bank, venice, 29 october 2003. * * * it is time to say goodbye. after more than five years of steering the ecb through the high seas, it is time for me to return to port and drop my anchor in more tranquil waters. over the past few weeks, a lot of people have asked me how i feel about retiring. i have told them that my feelings are mixed. half of me, wim duisenberg the private man, wishes that i had gone already. as you know, i had announced my intention to retire already last july. but for the other half of me, wim duisenberg the central banker, it will be more difficult letting go. without a doubt, the last five years have been the pinnacle of my career. it has been an honour and a privilege to be the first president of the european central bank ; to be bestowed the task of rearing, nurturing, and then guarding europe ’ s young currency. europe has made history and i have been given a place at the heart of it. i couldn ’ t ask for more than that. in years to come, history will be the judge of our success, or our failure. i hope that history will be kind. * * * the last few years have already been littered with outstanding achievements. it was not so long ago that most people doubted that the single currency would ever see the light of day. then, when they saw that it would, they speculated that only a few countries would be able to join. but they underestimated the resolve of european governments to be part of this great step forward in europe ’ s history. since then, we have witnessed the two changeovers ; the introduction of the euro in book - entry form and then in the form of banknotes and coins. both went smoothly, not because they were easy, but because of the hard work of all involved. and of course, for nearly five years now, we have had a single monetary policy conducted by the european central bank for the euro area. during this time, the bank has not been without its critics. i have not been without my critics. the nature of that criticism depended on which newspapers you read. if you read the anglo - saxon press

yves mersch : growth potential and competition – what lies ahead for card payments? speech by mr yves mersch, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the bank of france conference on “ card payments in europe – latest trends and challenges ”, paris, 18 january 2016. * * * introduction besides cash, cards are the most widely used payment instrument in europe. as regards electronic payment instruments as a whole, card payments have been on a strong and steady growth path, with the number of card transactions in the european union having almost quadrupled in the last 15 years. in france, card usage is well above the eu average. areas with an even stronger card usage ( and, correspondingly, a lower share of cash payments ) are the nordic countries, the netherlands and great britain. in those countries, a preference for cards over cash is often highly visible in shops, with merchants often actively encouraging card usage by means of signs or other communication. while cards are the predominant electronic payment instrument, it should be noted that cards – like cash – were initially designed for face - to - face payment situations. given the strong growth in e - commerce, the necessity of finding appropriate and innovative solutions for new payment situations, i. e. internet or mobile payments, has become apparent. the incidence of fraud related to purchases made over the internet, which involve “ card - not - present ” ( cnp ) transactions, has been a source of concern and needs to be addressed by appropriate security measures – i will discuss this in more detail later. in general, innovative payment solutions, regardless of whether they are based on cards or other payment instruments, will have an impact on payment behaviour and the usage of cards and other traditional payment instruments in the years to come. nevertheless, there is no doubt that card payments are here to stay. i still see a strong growth potential for card transactions, in particular in those countries in central and south - eastern europe where people largely rely on cash. yet, even a “ card - minded ” country such as france can realise further efficiency gains in the area of retail payments by increasing its number of card payments. migration to the single euro payments area ( sepa ) for credit transfers and direct debits was a major milestone in european retail payments integration. sepa for cards is the next logical step in that process. to this day, consumers and merchants, but also banks and other payment service providers, still encounter obstacles or experience geographical differences when making and