Faced with several external shocks that have varying impacts on the economies of the euro area, we need to ensure that our policy stance is transmitted evenly, thereby preserving the singleness of our monetary policy. Monetary policy could otherwise be impaired by an excessive, self-fulfilling market reaction leading to an asymmetric tightening of financing conditions across the euro area.
Action to prevent fragmentation is therefore not at odds with the normalisation of monetary policy. On the contrary, it is a necessary condition for us to have the freedom to adjust our stance as needed to bring inflation back to 2%.