BIS Review 13/1999  –5–  The primary objective of any supervisory regime has to be prudential, viz., to protect the safety and soundness of domestic banking systems. Its application can at the same time provide an incentive for other countries to improve the quality of their prudential supervision.
As you know, the current definition, unchanged since 2003, is that inflation should be “below but close to two percent over the medium term”. The words “close to” were added to the ECB’s definition of price stability in 2003, after a serious and thorough consideration.