This tension was resolved – in my view in an optimal manner – by announcing a quantitative definition of stable prices and by adopting a diversified approach to analysing and assessing information.
Defining price stability as "a year-on-year increase in the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices for the euro area of below 2 percent," along with the emphasis on the medium term, was designed to enhance clarity, anchor expectations and provide a yardstick against which the new independent institution could be held accountable.