And as regards the latter, it should be noted that the euro area has, on a net basis, seen the creation of a remarkable 15.7 million new jobs in the nine years since 1 January 1999 – more than three times the total for the nine years prior to the euro and considerably more than have been created in the United States over the same nine-year period.
Now, more than ever, we have numerous challenges to face. The central banks of industrialised countries have to ensure price stability in their individual economies, which are characterised not only by extremely rapid progress in science and technology, but also by both globalisation and significant demographic change, particularly population-aging.