how do you intend to rule out something similar repeating itself in europe? draghi : we, the governing council of the ecb, are committed to safeguarding price stability and avoiding systemic asset bubbles. so far we have seen some rising prices in a few asset markets at the local level. such phenomena must be dealt with regionally by the relevant political and supervisory authorities, for example by asking banks to hold more capital against their real estate exposure. spiegel : what would you say to german taxpayers who fear inflation? draghi : at present i do not see any risks to price stability. the ecb remains committed to safeguarding price stability as it has always done in the past. we firmly expect the inflation rate in the euro area to fall next year to below our target of close to 2 %. spiegel : at the start of monetary union, germans were promised that the ecb would behave like a second bundesbank. many people here now speak of a new banca d ’ italia, which tolerated double - figure inflation rates in the 1970s. draghi : i consider such accusations, to put it mildly, inelegant. for two reasons : in the 1970s, the banca d ’ italia was not independent. today, the situation is completely different. but there is also a personal reason. because of inflation, my family lost a large part of its savings at that time. you can therefore rest assured that i am personally and not only professionally committed to delivering price stability. spiegel : two german members of the ecb ’ s governing council have stepped down in protest, and the head of the bundesbank jens weidmann openly opposes your policy. does that not make you think? draghi : of course. that reflects concerns which we incorporate into our decisions. you can be assured that, in taking measures, we stick strictly to our mandate. spiegel : your former colleague jurgen stark, who resigned, sees it differently. draghi : his reasoning is not shared by the governing council of the ecb. spiegel : but the fact is, you are doing things that would have previously been inconceivable. draghi : we are also currently in a crisis that was previously inconceivable. it is therefore not very helpful to compare our measures with the past. when we speak of the bundesbank culture, we mean a culture of independence and price stability. i am deeply attached to both principles and can

risks, particularly for the german taxpayer ; second, provide support unconditionally ; or third, provide support under certain conditions. the ecb chose the third option because that was the best way to combat the causes of the crisis. governments must commit to sound economic and financial policies. this is how we ensure reform in the euro area – and our independence. spiegel : experience teaches us somewhat differently. if you artificially lower interest rates, it makes it easier for governments to become indebted and decreases the pressure for reform. draghi : high interest rates are the most significant source of pressure for a government resisting reform, i agree with you there. this is exactly why we insist on adherence to strict conditions. moreover, we do not want to completely eliminate differences in interest rates between countries. we will only intervene if the differences become excessive. spiegel : many experts doubt that you can make a clear distinction in this regard. draghi : we would disagree. there are models and indicators available that will help us to make an informed judgement. spiegel : when you announced your programme, interest rates in spain, for example, stood at 6. 5 %. what proportion of this was speculative? draghi : i will not tell you that : we have decided not to give exact figures for our programme that we could later be pinned down to. what i can tell you is that a good analysis will provide you with the necessary indications regarding at which point the differences give cause for concern. spiegel : we fear that you are getting entangled in hopeless political discussions with the european governments. in order to put monetary union on a firm footing, you are in favour of, for example, greater centralisation of economic and financial policy. up to now we have seen little of this. draghi : this is not how i see it. governments are on the right path. they have committed themselves to transferring more competencies for budgetary and financial policy to the european level. they need to take the necessary decisions on this at their summit meeting in december. spiegel : up to now, governments have only been ready to concede greater powers to the commission regarding the control of their budgets. the actual decisions will continue to be taken at the national level, however. draghi : the governments have taken decisions that would have been inconceivable even one year ago. this is progress, but it is not enough. spiegel : why not? draghi