are not able to cope with these challenges, but we do. each and every time, we prevail. and why is that? because when we work as a union, we can address problems that would overwhelm us if each country tried to address them alone. and sometimes, what seems like a difficulty of working together is simply a reflection of the difficulty of overcoming the challenges thrown in our way. one should not mistake the one for the other. many argue that our societies are not homogenous enough to operate as a union. but others would argue that further integration is necessary to extract all the economies of scale and scope that our union brings. i am firmly in this second camp. and i am firmly among those who believe that we can better protect the interest of citizens in every country by making our union, to use a phrase from your constitutional tradition, “ more perfect ”. bis central bankers ’ speeches the progress achieved over the past three years to stabilise and strengthen the euro area is real. growth is returning. the way forward is well identified. and we will not rest until our monetary union is complete. it is in our interest. it is also in your interest and that of everybody, everywhere. thank you very much. bis central bankers ’ speeches

seek broad support from european citizens. i thus look forward to further fruitful cooperation with european co - legislators and i am personally committed to continuing our regular exchanges in this committee. i now look forward to your questions. 1. see ecb ( 2022 ), progress on the investigation phase of a digital euro, september ; ecb ( 2022 ), progress on the investigation phase of a digital euro – second report, december ; and ecb ( 2022 ), letter from fabio panetta to ms irene tinagli on progress on the investigation phase of a digital euro. the first report covers topics such as the transfer mechanism, privacy and tools to control the amount of digital euro in circulation. the second report focuses on the roles of intermediaries, a settlement model, funding and defunding and a distribution model for the digital euro. 2. further information on stakeholder engagement and project governance is available on the ecb ’ s website. 3. ecb ( 2022 ), study on the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area ( space ), december. for further information, see also ecb ( 2023 ), “ digital euro – stocktake ”, presentation to the eurogroup, 16 january. 4. panetta, f. ( 2022 ), “ building on our strengths : the role of the public and private sectors in the digital euro ecosystem ”, introductory statement at the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament, brussels, 29 september. 5. further information on this proposal is available on the european commission ’ s website. 6. in recent years, the eurosystem has been working on a new consolidated target platform – a complex infrastructure that would offer the market enhanced and modernised services – in addition to developing a eurosystem collateral management system that will simplify processes involving multiple jurisdictions, including the mobilisation of cross - border collateral. the eurosystem has also been working to ensure that target services remain resilient to cyber threats as well as considering potential changes in the needs of its wholesale settlement services users and whether new technologies could make settlement in wholesale digital central bank money more efficient and secure. in particular, the eurosystem has been assessing the potential of distributed ledger technology ( dlt ) and the extent to which it could improve its services. see also panetta, f. ( 2022 ), “ demystifying wholesale central bank digital currency ”, speech at the symposium on “ payments and securities settlement in