In fact, what happened is that long-term interest rates in all participating countries converged towards those of the most credible currencies. This is one of the euro’s main achievements. Independence and transparency The independence of the ECB and the need for transparency go hand in hand.
For us to successfully maintain price stability, we constantly have to make all the reasons underlying our decisions transparent to the public. The announcement of the monetary policy strategy in October 1998, well before the introduction of the euro, was a key element in this. It clearly stated the ECB’s understanding of its objective and the framework used to guide policy decisions.