I would like to thank you warmly for inviting me to speak to you today. It is a privilege to have an opportunity to talk to the citizens’ representatives at the heart of European democracy. Events like this one allow us to consider national debates in discussions about our common challenges as Europeans. For all of us, the past year of the pandemic has been an extraordinary challenge. And, at all levels, the public policy response has been truly impressive. National responses have spearheaded the policy effort, with fiscal measures amounting to, on average, 4.5% of euro area GDP. Yet the response to this crisis ... (full story)