On the other hand, there is no doubt, from my point of view, that capital controls are not a realistic alternative to open capital markets. The reintroduction or maintenance of administrative controls in an otherwise liberal environment poses fundamental problems. Firstly, market participants will always contrive to avoid such controls and, if anything, they are more imaginative than the controlling authorities.
On a quarterly basis, euro area real GDP growth was flat in the first quarter of 2012. Available indicators for the second quarter of the year point to a weakening of growth and highlight prevailing uncertainty. Looking beyond the short term, we continue to expect the euro area economy to recover gradually.