The Commission has come forward with proposals to strengthen economic governance, published on 29 September. A number of these proposals go in the right direction and address some important gaps in the existing governance framework. But let me lay out what I believe to be critical points in the implementation of a new framework.
What we need is a fundamental strengthening of economic governance in the euro area. Economic and Monetary Union rests on two pillars, the economic pillar and the monetary pillar. The monetary pillar is firmly established and the ECB has fully delivered on its mandate to maintain price stability at below and close to 2%, over the medium term.