I have to admit, Ladies and Gentlemen, that when we were planning this conference we did not know how much the discussion about the ECB’s monetary strategy would intensify. Now we are right in the middle of this discussion, which in my view reflects the first out of three political factors that form the background of our conference. Why?
Well, if you want to talk about the relationship between monetary policy and other policy areas not only in an abstract but in a realistic way, then you must have a clear idea of the applied monetary policy strategy. 1. Price stability  You will understand that I have no intention to forecast the outcome of this strategy discussion.