the reforms will - in the medium to long term - accelerate the pace of economic growth and enhance the attractiveness of the euro area as well as the single currency. what will be a crucial factor, therefore, is that policymakers commit themselves in a credible manner to tackling the necessary changes and, at the same time, to safeguarding the stability of the euro. as monetary history has repeatedly shown, a stable internal value is the precondition for gaining that sustained confidence of international investors, which also gives a currency its external stability. one of the main tasks of the national central banks of the eurosystem at present is preparing for the cash changeover on january 1, 2002. this is a tremendous logistical task. it is a great challenge to all of us. but i am confident. we will have a smooth transition from national currencies to the euro. i am also convinced that the issuing of the euro in physical form will help to improve acceptance of the new currency in europe and in particular in germany. the results of the latest eurobarometer opinion survey show already a growth in support for the euro. in the euro area, 66 % of the people support the single currency. germany is still lagging behind, with 53 % in favor of the euro ; however, this is a significant improvement compared with the previous opinion survey. from an economic point of view the changeover is a non - event ; but it is not a merely technical process. it is the final and historical step towards further political integration in europe. at least, i hope that the euro will also function as a catalyst in that direction. after all, history tells us that normally the territory of a political entity and the monetary area is identical. this is not - or nor yet - the case in europe. as a consequence, monetary union cannot stand alone. in the medium term, emu will need to be underpinned by political union. in particular, the stage of intergovernmental cooperation must be overcome in foreign and defense policies, and in domestic and legal policies. that means national interests have to become manageable and ultimately to be overcome in order to move on to truly common european policies. the deepening of european integration and the enlargement of eu offer a unique opportunity to integrate europe peacefully and to create a region of stability and prosperity. slowly but surely europe is beginning to liberate itself from political standstill. political processes take time since they need to be supported by a public

bostjan vasle : towards the green transition - investment and prices opening remarks by mr bostjan vasle, governor of bank of slovenia, at the conference " towards the green transition : investment and prices ", jointly organised by the european investment bank, ljubljana, 29 september 2022. * * * dear ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, it is my great pleasure to welcome you here at the conference on green transition jointly organized with our colleagues from the european investment bank. summer is officially over but this usually pleasant months were also marked by some very unpleasent facts. it was the hottest summer on record in europe and the third hottest ever globally. it was accompanied by a lack of rainfall, raging fires and receded rivers across the globe. this worsened the european energy crisis and global shortage of staple crops. the end of summer brings new discomfort. as the cold months approach, the key concerns are related to the security of energy supply high inflation and expected substantial slowdown in economic growth. * * * energy and food remain the dominant drivers of high inflation, although the high price growth has increasingly spread to other items as well in the eurosystem, we have responded by normalizing our monetary policy, first by abandoning net purchases of securities, and from july on, with normalisation of our key interest rates first increases after eleven years. we expect to raise them further over the next several meetings. my impression is that current pace is appropriate response to elevated inflation, and we should continue with it through next few meetings. but that is not the end of normalisation process. purchases programmes will have to be modified in order to support our efforts to reduce inflation. our response is critical to reduce inflation pressures and to avoid de - anchoring of inflation expectations and a possible wage - price spiral. * * * our policy, however, cannot address supply - side constraints. the covid - related supplyside disruptions and the russian invasion of ukraine exposed fragilities of our food and energy systems, and our high dependence on foreign supply of raw materials and technologies, including those highly important for green and digital transition. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches the reaction of many firms was an increase in inventories, which added fuel to rising prices. in addition to the diversification of our supply network, sustainable solutions require ramping up investments in renewable energy sources and other production capacities, and development of new, greener technologies and critical infrastructure. and the green transition itself will require significant