avenue. combined with a carefully designed framework of targeted and temporary financial support, they should contribute to fostering structural reforms and thereby strengthening competitiveness. ideally, the reform contracts should focus on countries with the largest competitiveness challenges. they should identify the structural bottlenecks to improving competitiveness and target the reforms in a way that will remove those bottlenecks. this would establish a clear link between reforms and restoring competitiveness, which is essential for growth and job creation. smooth functioning of product and labour markets is a prerequisite for growth and job creation in emu. i therefore welcome the announcement that next year the european commission will undertake a systematic review of product and labour markets. for euro area countries the review should allow to assess whether these markets are fully compatible with participation in emu. here, product and labour markets must provide for enhanced adjustment capacity to adapt to a changing global economic environment and ensure sustained high levels of employment. the second priority for 2013 from the ecb ’ s perspective is the completion of financial union with the establishment of a single resolution mechanism. the aim of resolution is to deal with non - viable banks through measures that include their orderly winding down and closure while preserving financial stability. such a mechanism will make it possible for banks to fail in an orderly manner. improving economic union by restoring competitiveness and the functioning of product and labour markets on the one hand, and setting up a single resolution framework on the other hand are key priorities for 2013. this committee has always pushed for ambitious european solutions in the field of financial and economic governance. i am confident that you will again play an instrumental role in moving the agenda forward and adopting the relevant legislative proposals. thank you for your attention. i am now at your disposal for questions. bis central bankers ’ speeches

jean - claude trichet : interview with hospodarske noviny interview with mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, conducted on 21 september 2008 in bratislava by ms lubomira rakova ( hospodarske noviny ), and published on 23 september 2008. * * * how will slovakia ’ s entry to the euro area change your decisions about interest rates? we are working our monetary policy for the full body of the euro area. we are, as you know, presently 15, and we will be 16 as soon as slovakia enters on the 1st january next year. we are presently 320 million and we will be 325. 5 million. so it is for the sake of 325. 5 million that we are taking our decisions. and on the bases of the integrated analysis that we have on the full body of the euro area, exactly like the federal reserve itself is looking at absolutely all the usa with alaska, as well as florida, california and massachusetts. so, as soon as you are in, you are integrated in this overall assessment of what is appropriate for again 325, 5 million fellow citizens, for whose, this fellow citizens, we have exactly the same definition of price stability, as we had since the very beginning. we started with eleven, then twelve, then 13, then 15, and so we clearly have the same definition of price stability in the medium term, which is less than 2 %, close to 2 % at the level of euro area as a whole. my colleagues and myself, governor sramko with all the other members of the governing council – we will be 22 to take the decision, not 21 as we are now – we will again make a judgement of what is good for 325, 5 million citizens. people in slovakia are afraid of rising prices after january 2009. even ecb describes some doubts about sustainability of inflation in slovakia in the convergence report. what should our government do against the inflation? the ecb is responsible for price stability at the level of the euro area. price stability means in the medium term less than 2 percent, close to two percent as an average for the euro area. we have encouraged slovakia, and all economies and countries before entering into the euro area, to care for price stability to be sustainable in the medium and long run. this is our strong message. and we have always given that message not particularly to slovakia, but to all countries. we always insist on the sustainability of price