This mainly reflects the tight labor market conditions brought about by the fact that domestic demand, which tends to be directed toward more labor intensive activities than external demand and hence is associated with more substantial job creation, has been firm. In this situation, upward pressure on wages and prices has been increasing.
As stated in the policy statement, the ECB supports any form of market-led integration or consolidation process that fulfils the ECB’s requirements in terms of financial stability, open access, price transparency and efficiency. b) Expansion of activities of central counterparties While in the past, most European central counterparties only cleared derivatives, many of them also now clear securities transactions.