How damaging to your credibility is the constant opposition from the largest economy in the euro area? It is wrong to discuss our policies along national, or even nationalistic, lines. And there are respected voices in Germany that support the ECB. Some of our critics only see the impact of our policies on themselves and miss the bigger picture.
Low interest rates, for instance, are a cost for savers, but they benefit the budget, and savers are also taxpayers. They support growth and exports, and savers are also workers. That is why the ECB is independent, to take distance from short-term politics and vested interests.