On the energy front, one of the fundamental drivers of high oil prices is increasing demand in Emerging Market Economies, whose rising affluence is resulting in very rapid growth of energy-intensive activities. As relatively low-cost reserves of fossil fuels are exhausted, rising global demand is being met by exploiting higher cost sources.
Altogether, we have now taken part in 13 EU-funded projects – EU twinning projects and large scale ESCB projects – with central banks in 11 countries. At the Bundesbank, we contribute quite specific insights we have gained from our own transformation processes, including German reunification and European monetary union.