Over the last few years, the euro area has witnessed a gradual recovery in economic activity. The recovery started in the second half of 2003 and has now led to ongoing trend growth rates that seem to be close to our present estimates of the potential growth rate of the euro area economy.
Several factors are behind the relatively gradual pace of this recovery , including oil price increases, the restructuring and reshaping of the productive sector triggered by global competition, and a possible decline in potential output growth.