on two conditions : first, that the institutional structures put in place were flawless ; and second, that there was irrefutable evidence of the monetary convergence of the countries invited to merge their currencies. as far as our two countries were concerned, that meant the complete convergence of the deutsche mark and the french franc even before the introduction of the single currency. we had concluded that an essential precondition for the creation of the single currency was that the new currency had to be at least as solid and at least as credible and retain its value at least as well as the national currencies that preceded it. and finally, of course, there was that crisis meeting at a washington hotel in september 1992, at the end of which our two central banks found a way to save the european exchange rate mechanism by preserving the link between our two currencies. several of us here today took part in that particularly tense – and particularly successful – meeting. mr president, you can be sure that the european central bank and its executive board, governing council and staff will – while remaining completely independent – continue to be faithful to the primary objective assigned to us by the treaty. this is what the european democracies that ratified the treaty expect of us. this is what our 320 million fellow citizens of the euro area expect of us. they want price stability. medium - term price stability is a necessary precondition for sustainable growth and strong job creation. and as regards the latter, it should be noted that the euro area has, on a net basis, seen the creation of a remarkable 15. 7 million new jobs in the nine years since 1 january 1999 – more than three times the total for the nine years prior to the euro and considerably more than have been created in the united states over the same nine - year period. now, more than ever, we have numerous challenges to face. the central banks of industrialised countries have to ensure price stability in their individual economies, which are characterised not only by extremely rapid progress in science and technology, but also by both globalisation and significant demographic change, particularly population - aging. but we also face challenges at the european level, having to implement the necessary structural reforms, deepen and strengthen the single market, particularly in the euro area, and pursue, with the utmost rigour and credibility, the enlargement of the euro area. mr president, thank you again for this great honour. the institution over which i preside is very grateful indeed

otherwise the room for manoeuvre in our future monetary policy would be permanently limited. the federal reserve is currently reviewing its monetary policy strategy. should the ecb follow this example? i believe that it is time for a review. the world is changing. for instance, we should analyse how other central banks behave when it comes to inflation targets. the importance of monetary policy instruments should also play a role. the best way might be to carry out a review at regular intervals. if it comes to a fundamental discussion of the new strategy under new ecb president christine lagarde in future, would a change in the inflation aim also be conceivable? maybe also a higher objective? 5 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches an objective of around 2 % has established itself as the international norm. deviating greatly from this could create uncertainty and pose risks, as it could, for example, generate undesirable capital flows, for instance. 6 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches