Another important issue was the need for economic policies that would make the euro area economy more resilient to sudden and sometimes unexpected events and to foster its potential for sustainable long term growth. Needless to say, the challenges the euro area currently faces are of a different order of magnitude than in 2004.
Yet, at a fundamental level, the key issues are similar, namely how to pave the way for a robust recovery and how to increase the long term growth potential in a sustainable manner. In my view these two questions – the cyclical and the structural – are closely entwined.