It is regretful that we had to wait until the recent crisis before progress started on this front. •  This is particularly important for the Nordic banking market, which is exceptionally integrated and interconnected, while the countries’ starting positions are so divergent, not all being members of the euro area.
In the area of monetary policy, a sound legal and institutional framework for central banks promotes medium-term and stability orientation. The primary mandate of the ECB is to maintain price stability. To fulfil this mandate, the ECB and national central banks are institutions whose independence is firmly enshrined in law. This framework has been crucial to anchoring inflation expectations.