i can assure you that it has been very inspiring to be president of a monetary institution that is responsible for issuing the common currency for 332 million people bis central bankers ’ speeches in 17 countries, including spain. this is a great responsibility. as you know, in the governing council of 23 members, we are a team, together with miguel angel fernandez ordonez and jose manuel gonzalez paramo. we are all very close and this is something that is very inspiring. the team ’ s spirit means so much to me. 12. what is it that has gone wrong in this crisis? what recommendations would you give? emerging economies have shown remarkable overall behaviour in the face of this crisis, unlike the advanced economies. i think the main lesson to be learnt is that we have to make a difference as regards the resilience of the advanced economies. and this requires the implementation of a very robust fiscal policy, a very strong monitoring of competitive indicators in all economies and in particular in the euro area, and bold structural reforms. 13. the markets fear liquidity problems in the european banking sector. do you think this is an understandable concern? the ecb has just announced a joint action with the federal reserve system to lend dollars to the european banks. what has brought us to this situation? could the ecb embark upon other measures, for example more twelve - month tenders? in addition, the liquidity crisis is reducing the banks ’ capital. in this context, will they be able to strengthen their positions themselves or will they require external support, perhaps through the european financial stability facility or some other means? as i already said, the european banking sector has to reinforce its balance sheet and improve its resilience. as regards its access to liquidity, i think it is important for observers and market participants to know that the ecb is supplying liquidity in euro on an unlimited basis at fixed rates for durations of one week, one month and three months. and the eligible collateral in the hands of the banking sector is a multiple of the amount of liquidity we are presently supplying ( around €530 billion ). as regards the liquidity in dollars, we just announced last thursday the agreement between five central banks, which has been well understood by the observers and illustrates the very close cooperation which exists, in particular between the federal reserve system and the ecb. bis central bankers ’ speeches

analyse more thoroughly different aspects of structural reforms to stress their importance for improved macroeconomic performance. this expertise should be funnelled more directly into our definition of benchmarks and be used more actively to inform our communication practices. nevertheless, communication alone will not be sufficient to move on with reforms. it will also require to strengthen the european framework through which these reforms are monitored. currently, this framework relies largely on a peer pressure mechanism, mainly depending on good will of governments in individual eu countries. in light of the current stance of structural reforms in the eu, this does not seem to be sufficiently powerful and more active measures to push forward with reforms - similar to the single market initiative - should be sought. in particular, the ecb welcomes the call made by the recent european council to build national reform partnerships, involving social partners, civil society and the public authorities in order to improve the implementation of necessary reforms. in this process, the ecb will continue to monitor and analyse structural reforms and provide additional insights. this takes place in co - operation between ecb and ncbs and a continuous exchange of views with other international organisations such as the european commission, the oecd or the imf. conclusion to conclude i would like to stress more particularly five points. first, on the economic underpinnings, the main strategic goal of the euro area as well as of the european union as a whole should be to increase substantially our growth potential. this is crucial and calls upon increasing very significantly in particular our rate of employment, our labour productivity progress and our technological and scientific basis. second, as regards methodology, it is clear that we have to work out an appropriate concept for the actual, precise, to the point implementation of the reforms. the lisbon agenda is excellent in terms of diagnosis. it has however not been associated with a with a powerful implementation, which is absolutely indispensable. third, as regards prioritization of structural reforms, i would personally particularly mention four points which seem to me of utmost importance in the euro area : youth unemployment which is attaining unacceptable levels in some economies ; unsatisfactory functioning of the single market in the service sector ; insufficient labour productivity progress in the economy as a whole ; and, lastly, consequences to be drawn from ageing in the management of the social protection schemes. fourth, as regards public opinion, i trust that we have all to exert maximum efforts to improve explanations, pedagogy, communication with the public at large