As you well know, the unsecured money market integrated very quickly, with the immediate introduction of the euro-area-wide standards: EONIA and EURIBOR. Other areas took longer, facing, for example, numerous institutional and legal hurdles. The introduction of Eurepo in March 2002 was a significant development in this regard. Integration of the short-term securities market is the next target.
In this regard, the ECB was pleased to act as host for the recent consultation of the market on behalf of the ACI on the issue of how the European short-term securities markets could be further integrated.