jean - claude trichet : interview with postimees, hospodarske noviny and delo interview with mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, in postimees, hospodarske noviny and delo, conducted by ms laura raus ( postimees, estonia ), mr jan kovac ( hospodarske noviny, slovakia ) and mr miha jenko ( delo, slovenia ) on 13 july 2011 and published on 19 july 2011. * * * question : what will happen if the us politicians fail to agree on lifting the country ’ s debt ceiling? what would the implications be for the euro area? trichet : i have no doubt that the us authorities will find an appropriate way to cope with the present difficulties and that they will succeed. if not, it would create a problem of great magnitude for the entire world. but i ’ m sure that they ’ ll find a solution. question : after the past bad experience with united states - based rating agencies, would you now be in favour of the creation of a european rating agency? trichet : the present framework of a very small number of global rating agencies is pro - cyclical, amplifying the booms and busts. this “ oligopolistic ” structure is not optimal. in any case, we encourage all initiatives that go in the direction of eliminating conflicts of interests ( where they exist ), improving surveillance and oversight and permitting more competition in this industry. everything that goes in this direction is correct. question : despite the continuing debt crisis in the euro area, the ecb has raised interest rates by 25 basis points recently. it could be the beginning of a series of increases to occur during the year, as economists forecast. disparities between countries are strong in the area and higher rates may be especially detrimental to the weak economies ( greece and portugal, for example ). what is your answer to this criticism? trichet : throughout the crisis we have always applied the separation principle between the “ standard ” measures of monetary policy on the one hand and the “ non - standard ” measures on the other hand. standard measures are the interest rates. non - standard measures are designed to help restore a more correct transmission mechanism of our monetary policy when financial markets or segments of markets are disrupted. the interest rates must be decided upon with a view to delivering price stability to the euro area as a whole in line with our definition of price

lorenzo bini smaghi : on the occasion of the inauguration of the euro exhibition in rome speech by mr lorenzo bini smaghi, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the inauguration of the euro exhibition, rome, 3 april 2009. * * * dear fabrizio, ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure for me to be here in these wonderful premises of banca d ’ italia in rome to celebrate with you the occasion of the 10th anniversary of stage three of the economic and monetary union ( emu ) and of the adoption of the euro. we are also here to inaugurate “ the euro exhibition ”, presenting the euro banknotes and coins through a range of innovative features, which we hope will be appreciated by the public in rome. 1. first 10 years of the euro on 1 january 1999 the third stage of emu began with the irrevocable fixing of the exchange rates of the currencies of the 11 member states initially forming the euro area. monetary authority for the new currency was transferred to the governing council of the european central bank. the euro became the currency of over 300 million citizens of europe. the number of countries participating in the emu grew over the years. today, euro banknotes and coins are legal tender in 16 of the 27 member states of the european union, and used by almost 330 million citizens in the euro area. slovakia has recently become the 16th member of the euro area. following a two - week dual circulation period during which payments could be made using either euro or slovak koruna, the euro became the sole legal tender in slovakia from 17 january 2009 and the changeover was very smooth. today, the single currency is used in an area that stretches from cyprus to ireland and from portugal to finland. as you know, the euro cash did not enter into circulation until 1 january 2002, when it replaced the banknotes and coins of the national currencies like, in the case of italy, the lira. to support the cash changeover, which was one of the largest logistical operations undertaken in europe, extensive information campaigns were successfully run to acquaint citizens with the visual appearance of the euro banknotes and coins. the euro is widely recognised as a currency of major significance on the international level. some 12 billion banknotes circulate in europe and beyond, representing a face value of more than eur 700 billion. the number of euro banknotes in circulation continued to grow since the