a genuine political question. whether the rich countries of northern europe will help the poorer countries in the south, that is a choice that will have profound consequences for the future of the union. who will decide at the end of the day? today, the priority is the coordination effort to manage the present situation, the huge crisis that greatly affects us all. what i notice today – particularly within the eurogroup – is that while there are some difficult issues, there are long discussions and this is not surprising. some progress is being made little by little in the course of these discussions. france plays a very decisive role in this regard. i believe that this coordination, this effort – which is at once both temporary and very targeted – must also be applied when exiting from the crisis. if when exiting, it ’ s everyone for themselves, it is not going to work in the best way, that ’ s clear. discussions with france inter listeners on the one hand, the ecb has taken a large number of measures : the billions of euro in liquidity which you mentioned earlier and the purchase of securities. on the other hand, the “ mutualisation ” of costs resulting from the various health measures which have been taken, namely “ coronabonds ” which have divided european countries between the north and the south. you yourself have called for an end to the “ everyone for 3 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches themselves ” attitude. can we expect joint measures from europe as a community or does this crisis bring out the “ everyone for themselves ” attitude? speaking as an optimist, i would hope that this coordinated effort, this sense of a collective which is now emerging – including within the eurogroup – will be able to continue afterwards. i do believe that reconstruction will be a decisive moment. having attended meetings of finance ministers myself, i can tell you that an incredible amount of progress has already been made. the idea that there could be a joint recovery fund, financed on a collective basis, in other words where all parties – the good and the less good – come together would be fantastic. i cannot be sure whether we have reached that point yet, but we are moving in that direction. you are using the conditional tense – you are very familiar with the never - ending meetings of the eurogroup and the finance ministers, having often been in attendance yourself. however, at the moment, division rather than solidarity is predominant. how would you respond to jacques delors ’ comment that the lack of solidarity constitutes a

“ mortal danger ” to the european union? could it be said that the eu ’ s current way of working is an indicator that it is in mortal danger? the main source of “ mortal danger “ is currently the coronavirus … yes, of course. but that is the image actually used by the former president of the european commission … yes, i know. clearly, the duty of solidarity must be complied with, and this solidarity needs to take the shape of concrete action. for example, when i see germany offering hospital beds and taking on patients from the grand - est region of france, it may not be, for some observers, the great gesture of financial solidarity that is expected, but it shows solidarity nevertheless. we need to gather together all of these signs and move towards providing support to those countries most at risk and most affected today, namely italy and spain, within the euro area, of course. i do believe progress is being made. but as you know, europe is a form of mosaic of different temperaments, cultures, histories and taboos … of national self - interest, as well... we are all in a situation where everyone needs to be on board. whether that be people sensibly staying at home, or others doing their utmost in hospitals, or people trying to invent new policies, everyone must be on the front line. we all have something to contribute. all of the tools at our disposal need to be mobilised. for some people, it is hard to come around. this disease is spreading and affecting everyone and we all need to ask : are we all working together? and of course, the answer must be yes. are some countries facing bankruptcy? i am referring, primarily, to greece which is not much talked about. there is much more talk of italy these days. but is it not possible that greece, which has taken a long time to recover, might simply fall once again, only much lower and much harder? first, thanks to programmes implemented since 2010, greece is currently in a solid situation in terms of its financing needs. secondly, as i mentioned earlier, the european central bank acts as a shield to protect the euro area. my job – in conjunction with the 19 other governors of central banks within the euro area - is to ensure price stability – that is our primary role. but above all, our job is to ensure that monetary policy is implemented smoothly across the entire euro area. therefore, as soon as we see a risk,