jean - claude trichet : welcome remarks for the euro - mediterranean seminar welcome remarks by jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, at the euro - mediterranean seminar, eurosystem and mediterranean country national central banks, naples, 14 - 15 january 2004. * * * your eminence, minister for european affairs, members of the italian parliament, president of the region, mr mayor, distinguished guests, fellow governors, ladies and gentlemen, i would like to welcome you most warmly to this first euro - mediterranean seminar of central banks. i am particularly happy to see so many governors here from central banks of non - euro area mediterranean countries, who are joining colleagues from eurosystem national central banks. this seminar marks the will of the eurosystem to pursue a regular and active dialogue with the national central banks of mediterranean countries. it is also a good example of the fact that the eurosystem acts as a team : in this spirit, we asked the banca d ’ italia to host the seminar and i would like to thank governor fazio for having accepted, for having co - organised the seminar with the ecb and, of course, for choosing naples. there is hardly any other place in italy, or even in europe, more suited to serve as the location of this meeting. from its foundation by greek settlers to the city of today, naples has retained the imprint of the successive cultures that emerged in europe and the mediterranean basin. this makes it a unique site indeed. our meeting here in naples is both a real novelty and a sign of continuity. as you are all aware, there are a number of meetings and fora, which bring together representatives of mediterranean countries and the eu to discuss economic and financial issues. these meetings take place as part of the barcelona process, which was initiated in 1995 to foster cooperation between the northern, southern and eastern shores of the mediterranean in various spheres. as you know, it comprises the eu and 12 partner countries in the mediterranean. so far, however, central banking issues have not played a prominent role in this framework, and central bankers from the two regions do not have a multilateral platform for an exchange of views. this high - level seminar, and the preceding workshop that was held in frankfurt in october last year, are not formally part of the barcelona process. they are events initiated by central banks for central banks. they fill a gap in the network of institutional relations with and within the mediterranean, and i am convinced that these

, who have driven work on this project forward, and without whom this event here, today could not have taken place. so what are the objectives of this seminar from our point of view? • first, it should be a platform for an exchange of views between central banks of the mediterranean region and central bankers of the eurosystem. this seminar should enhance the eurosystem ’ s knowledge of the economies of our mediterranean neighbours, and provide the central banks of the region with an opportunity to become more familiar with the eurosystem. • second, this seminar is not a one - off event. we see the potential for regular and active dialogue in the region. therefore, it is also an opportunity to elaborate on the main features of future cooperation. • third, but by no means least, this seminar offers a unique opportunity to strengthen professional and personal relationships between all central bankers of the region. part of the region is haunted by conflicts, which impact the economies. all the more reason, i believe, for us as central bankers to develop professional relations and encourage active and constructive dialogue. i would like to encourage all of us to make the best use of this opportunity by participating actively in the seminar with frank, open contributions. i look forward very much to our discussions. thank you.