Before the outbreak of the crisis, the unemployment rate in this region was lower than in the median euro area region; today it is higher. Let me reassure you that such differences across regions, or across countries, do not go unnoticed in the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt.
We are keeping a close eye on regional developments and carefully investigate the possible causes of persistent differences in growth and inflation. After all, a permanent divergence of the regions or countries in a currency union would make it increasingly difficult to define and implement a common monetary policy. There are instances where monetary policy can do very little about regional differences.