have been floating since the collapse of the bretton woods system at the beginning of the 1970s. i should underline the strong view of the international community that excess volatility and disorderly movements in the exchange rates have adverse implications for economic and financial stability. and i appreciate the recent statements by the us authorities – namely the us secretary of the treasury and the chairman of the federal reserve – reiterating that a strong dollar vis - a - vis other major convertible currencies is in the interest of the united states. i share this view entirely. a dollar that is credible among the major currencies of the advanced economies is in the interest of the united states, of europe and of the entire international community. on the other hand, the second topic concerns the currencies of emerging market economies which have current account surpluses and exchange rates that are not sufficiently flexible. on this issue, the international community agrees – and it was restated in korea last week – that moving towards more market - determined exchange rate systems, enhancing exchange rate stability to reflect underlying economic fundamentals, and refraining from competitive devaluation of currencies, are in the interest of the emerging economies concerned and of the international community. challenges ahead this is no time for complacency. the challenges lying ahead of us are manifold. all relevant authorities as well as the private sector must assume fully their responsibilities ; governments and parliaments, central banks, regulators and supervisors, private sector and financial industry. in particular, the current crisis has clearly demonstrated that implementing ambitious reforms in economic governance is in the interest both of the euro area countries and the euro area as a whole. the proposals put forward by president van rompuy on the reform of the eu ’ s economic governance and approved by the european council meeting of 28 – 29 october 2010 represent an improvement to the current surveillance framework at eu level, and seem broadly appropriate for the eu countries not participating in monetary union. however, as regards the specific requirements of the euro area, they fall short of what the ecb views as necessary to ensure the best possible functioning of the single currency economy. i am convinced that, over the coming months, the european parliament will help europe making the necessary quantum leap in economic governance a reality. with its legislative role concerning financial supervision and the esrb, the parliament showed its determination when it comes to major issues. i would like to take this opportunity to thank you for this, and to express again my conviction that the influence

of the parliament will be decisive in the economic governance debate. another important challenge ahead relates to financial regulation. we should fully draw the lessons of the crisis and keep the momentum for financial reform. as advocated in your draft resolution, a consistent and speedy implementation of basel iii is of crucial importance in this regard. the commission ’ s legislative proposals on short - selling and over - the - counter derivatives are also indispensable to make the financial system more transparent and resilient. ladies and gentlemen, honourable representatives of the european citizens : we are facing a decisive year. 2011 should see the adoption of the revised governance framework, in - depth discussions on the crisis management framework and possibly the launch of the procedure for a treaty change. we need to get all these reforms right, so as to ensure that the euro area can meet the future challenges with even greater capacity and conviction. 2011 will be also the first year of existence of the european systemic risk board. ( esrb ). as you call for in your draft resolution, the ecb is doing its utmost to support this new body. at the same time, the full independence and the primary mandate of the ecb, enshrined in the maastricht treaty, are of course unchanged as i have already stressed before the parliament. as it has done over the past 12 years, the ecb will continue to deliver on its mandate. this is what the treaty calls upon us. and this is what our fellow citizens expect from us. thank you for your attention.