will turn to efforts in this area shortly. financial stability i would now like to touch briefly on financial stability issues. the start of the preparatory work for the european systemic risk board ( esrb ) – the body in charge of macro - prudential oversight in the eu – allowed its smooth establishment in 2011, together with the european supervisory authorities. the esrb is now fully operational, with its general board having already met twice and its advisory committees in place. the ecb has been entrusted with the provision of analytical, statistical, logistical and administrative support to the esrb. hence, the ecb is making the utmost effort to enhance its capabilities and analytical tools for conducting systemic risk analysis. in the context of the basel iii framework, the ecb fully supports the european commission ’ s work on the capital requirements directive ( crd ) iv. the commission ’ s proposal by mid2011, as envisaged, would provide the european parliament and the council with sufficient time to put the new framework in place by the end of 2012. the ecb annual report highlights our support to the commission ’ s initiative regarding a crisis management and resolution framework for eu financial institutions. the eu clearly needs better tools with well designed triggers to tackle problems in the banking sector more effectively. national regimes should be harmonised as much as possible and arrangements for better coordination between member states in crisis situations need to be devised. the ecb shares the overriding policy objective of the new eu regime to provide a framework within which financial institutions can fail, while at the same time safeguarding the stability of the eu financial system as a whole and minimising public costs and economic disruption. from this perspective, a credible resolution framework that disciplines large and cross - border financial institutions, in particular, is essential. in this context, the setting up of a network of national resolution funds that could evolve, in the medium to long term, to a european resolution fund, is undoubtedly very important. the ecb is also actively contributing to the discussions in the fsb and the g20 to putting in place arrangements that will reduce the systemic risk emanating from so - called global systemically important financial institutions. as regards the new round of the eu - wide stress test, which will be conducted under the aegis of the newly established european banking authority ( eba ), it is designed as a sufficiently severe and rigorous exercise to be credible. it is expected to reduce uncertainty among market participants concerning the health of european banks. let me

jean - claude trichet : inauguration of the “ language of money ” exhibition and the euro exhibition speech by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, at the inauguration of the “ language of money ” exhibition and the euro exhibition at the museum fur kommunikation, frankfurt am main, 10 march 2010. * * * ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, it is a great pleasure for me to be here today at the museum fur kommunikation in frankfurt for the inauguration of two exhibitions. first, it is a particular honour for me, in my capacity as patron, to open the “ language of money ” exhibition. and, of course, it also gives me great pleasure to open the european central bank ’ s euro exhibition. these two complementary exhibitions share similar themes, of interest to me as a central banker. they explore the history, practicalities and overall role that money plays in our lives, and are indeed both very enlightening. whatever language we speak, there is no doubt that money plays an important role in communication, conveying messages directly or indirectly about our society, our status and our values. the “ language of money ” exhibition examines the role that money plays in our lives. naturally i am very interested in the language of money and, in particular, the language of the euro. the euro should speak both of europe ’ s diversity and its common culture, its history and its future. and indeed it does, through the architectural motifs on our banknotes and the cultural symbols on the national sides of our coins. take the name “ euro ”, for instance. when choosing the name, it was purposely decided that it should not favour any specific language, but speak rather of europe. and so the word “ euro ” entered our vocabulary : a new word for a new european currency. today, of course, the word does not seem new at all. the euro has become one of the most tangible elements of europe for the 330 million european citizens who use the euro as their common currency on a daily basis. since the creation of the euro, it has also become clear how important a role the single currency can play in the realisation of an ever closer union among the peoples of europe. the number of countries participating in economic and monetary union has grown over the years and today the euro is used in 16 member states of the european union, covering an area that stretches from cyprus to ireland and from portugal to finland. the euro also has