5  Demographic trends, the independence of monetary policy and the culture of stability  Ladies and gentlemen, faced with the far-reaching economic repercussions of demographic change, we must assume that it will have implications for monetary policy, too.
Although the  BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  ECB Governing Council defines the monetary policy for the entire euro area, meaning that country-specific developments only have an indirect influence, I would like to say a few brief words about potential monetary policy problems. There is justification in that because all the large euro-area countries will be affected by an ageing society.