Finally, I would like to add that I am very glad to see such a densely packed audience here today. This confirms that this year’s conference topic – “The Future of European Integration” – strikes a chord with many people from different walks of life. As you all know, a conference of this size is not arranged within a couple of days.
In fact, the lags of transmission between a decision and its visibility, which are well known from monetary policymaking, are also present in organizing a monetary policy conference. Sometimes a topic that appears to be timely and urgent in the planning phase of a conference has lost some of its appeal by the time the event actually takes place.