Unemployment in the euro area is still higher than before the crisis, but it’s at its lowest level since 2009. The average unemployment rate currently stands at 9.5 percent. But this evidently does not provide the full story when it comes to the state of the euro area. The challenges are complex. As H.L.
Mencken, an American journalist with German roots, once said, “to every complex problem there is an answer that is simple, clear and wrong". In line with this, I 1/5  BIS central bankers' speeches  will take a closer look at two major issues of the euro area and the European project, namely 1. The quest for a suitable institutional framework, and 2.