Jean-Claude Trichet: The external and internal dimensions of Europe’s competitiveness Speech by Mr Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, at the Institute of International and European Affairs, Dublin, 26 February 2009. *  *  *  Ladies and gentlemen, These are very challenging times – for Ireland, for Europe and for the global economy.
I am very pleased to be here in Dublin today. When, last year, the Institute of International and European Affairs kindly invited me to give a lecture on Europe’s competitiveness, I was delighted to accept the opportunity to look at Europe’s economy from a broad perspective and to focus particularly on the growing challenge of globalisation.