In November last year, I was pleased to welcome Governor Dakić and Vice Governors Fabris and Milošević to Frankfurt for the second high-level policy dialogue between our respective institutions. The ECB conducts such dialogues with all the central banks of those countries which are negotiating to join the EU.
I will start by presenting some stylised facts that illustrate the extent of past changes in consumption and production patterns in the euro area, the United States and Japan. I will then explain how these changes, and the shift towards services, are likely to have affected monetary policy transmission on both sides of the Atlantic.