To give you an idea of the size of the production process, if the 13 billion euro banknotes were placed end to end, they would stretch to the moon and back twice. As you may remember, the Governing Council has already decided that the euro banknotes will not bear any national symbols and, therefore, will be totally identical irrespective of where they are produced.
This is necessary in its own right – but it is  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  also important to temper the social consequences of the required adjustment in labour markets. Second, narrowing the gap between labour compensation and productivity growth, also across countries, is absolutely essential for improving competitiveness in euro area countries.