1 His professional preoccupations included how international capital flows, trade and labour mobility influence people’s well-being. These factors remain uppermost in policymakers’ minds as they seek to secure the resilient dynamism we all need for sustainable prosperity. And they are among the factors I want to consider this evening in discussing the impact of the UK’s European Union (EU) membership on the Bank of England’s objectives. Today we are publishing a report that examines this question. 2 I would like to be clear at the outset what this report is about, and what it is not. Our report is solely concerned with how EU membership affects the Bank’s ability to achieve our core objectives of maintaining monetary and financial stability. It is not a comprehensive assessment of the pros and cons of the United Kingdom “being in Europe.” And for the benefit of those of you who join us from the ranks of the nation’s press corps, I say again that this report it is not a comprehensive assessment of the pros and cons of the United Kingdom “being in Europe”! Answering that question involves much, much broader issues. Issues for others to analyse, describe and debate. And even those contributions will only be partial responses to a question that only the British people can decide. 1  Cairncross, A K (1953), Home and foreign investment 1870–1913, Cambridge University Press. 2  Bank of England (2015), EU Membership and the Bank of England, October. Available here.
BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  So if the narrowness of my scope disappoints, I would invite you sit back. Literally. Admire the Sheldonian’s ceiling. Marvel at how Wren’s original design bridged such an expanse with neither beams that could individually span its width nor floor-to-ceiling columns that could support it. Reflect on the allegory in the paintings that shows Truth descending upon the Arts and Sciences, expelling ignorance from the University. While you do, I will attempt my more meagre exam question. The Bank’s very great – yet rightly circumscribed – responsibilities are formalised in the remits of the three major policy-making bodies of the Bank – the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the Financial Policy Committee (FPC), and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The MPC’s remit requires it to achieve price stability, formalised as 2% CPI inflation, and subject to that to support the Government’s economic policy including its objectives for growth and employment. The FPC works to remove or reduce systemic risks with a view to protecting and enhancing the resilience of the UK financial system as a whole, and is subject to the same secondary objective as the MPC. And finally, the Bank of England’s PRA is required to promote the safety and soundness of individual firms; to contribute to securing an appropriate degree of protection for insurance policyholders; and, subject to that, to facilitate effective competition.