*  *  *  The subject of the challenges facing Europe and the European Central Bank (ECB) after the establishment of the Monetary Union is complex and important. Let me organise my remarks from a chronological perspective.
I shall first present my recollection of the challenges that the ECB had to face and the "battles" in which it was involved in its – very short – past. Then, I shall proceed to what I consider to be the challenges of the present and what, in my view, lurks just around the corner.