After all, if we wish to understand what is happening at the European level, we would be well advised also to look at the underlying national economic relationships. With respect to these analytical tasks, the division of labour between the centre and the national central banks is likely to evolve of its own accord.
It is against this background, that the Governing Council decided a number of policy measures at its last meeting, including an extension of its forward guidance on policy interest rates, a confirmation of the reinvestment policy and favourable pricing conditions for our new series of targeted longer term refinancing operations (TLTRO III).