make a direct contribution in its fields of competence, e. g. through the provision of the pertinent infrastructure. to be more concrete we are, as i am sure you are aware, replacing the euro area ’ s current decentralised payment system with a single technical platform, target2, which is due to go live in 2007. target2 will further improve financial integration. it will increase cost - effectiveness and allow for the provision of a harmonised level of services across europe, supported by the implementation of a single price structure for domestic and cross - border payments. target2 will also offer new functionalities in terms of banks ’ euro liquidity management and consolidated information – which should make it one of the most sophisticated payment systems in the world. beyond such a direct contribution, the ecb sees itself predominantly as a catalyst for change, seeking to enrich the debate in the relevant eu - wide fora and through dialogue with market participants. in this endeavour we wish to support and complement the activities of the private sector and public authorities, notably the european commission. one such field of activity relates to retail payment systems, particularly the initiative to create a single european payments area ( sepa ) as from 1 january 2008. the sepa is important, not least because it represents a very tangible benefit in the everyday lives of europeans. european citizens and enterprises will be able to make payments throughout the euro area from a single bank account using a single set of payment instruments, as easily and safely as they do today in the national systems. in addition, national infrastructures should migrate to a pan - european payments infrastructure by the end of 2010, which means that investments in the next generation of national systems should be made from a pan - european perspective in order to ensure compliance with the sepa. of course, all of this concerns the investment decisions in individual banking establishments, but i am confident that banks which can offer payment services of the quality envisaged by the sepa will have competitive advantages. as outlined already, for the ecb, as a supranational institution, the cross - border dimension of the banking sector in the eu, and the related regulatory and supervisory issues, are of particular interest. at the ecb, we see the ongoing consolidation of the european banking sector as a predominantly market - driven process. what public policy at the eu level can and should do is to remove potential prudential and supervisory obstacles to cross - border m & as. for example, in 2004

jean - claude trichet : interview with weser - kurier interview with mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, in weserkurier, germany, conducted by ms annemarie struß - von poellnitz on 11 february 2011 and published on 13 february 2011. * * * weser - kurier : is this your first time in bremen? trichet : yes, indeed. i ’ ve been to lubeck and hamburg, but i ’ m really eager to get to know bremen. weser - kurier : in 1978 bremen was the setting for the launch of the virtual single currency, the ecu. we ’ ve now had the euro for 12 years. although most germans accept the euro, they don ’ t love it. can you understand that? trichet : it is important to look at facts and figures. the euro is a stable and credible currency, and the european central bank is here to ensure that our currency serves its purpose well – namely ensuring price stability – for the german people and the 331 million citizens of the euro area as a whole. the euro has held its value remarkably well in the 12 years since it was launched, with an average annual inflation rate of below 2 % ( 1. 97 % to be precise ). that ’ s better than anything achieved by the national central banks before the introduction of the euro. our primary mandate is to maintain price stability, which we have done. weser - kurier : but fears of inflation are currently increasing. according to the german figures for january, which have just been announced by the federal statistical office, the inflation rate rose to 2 %, compared with 1. 7 % in december. this worries people. trichet : the average annual inflation rate in germany in the last 12 years has been 1. 5 %, which is even lower than the euro area average. i ’ ll say it again : that ’ s better than in the 50 years before the introduction of the euro. of course, we ’ re not the masters of the price of oil or other commodities. we ’ ve also witnessed large swings in the price of oil and other commodities in the past, mainly driven by strong demand from emerging economies. but people can rest assured that we ’ ll continue to do everything in our power to avoid the second - round effects of external shocks, thereby ensuring price stability in the medium term. weser - kurier : it ’ s not just commodity prices, but