Mr Chairman, Honourable Members, Allow me to start by congratulating all of you on your election to this House, and you, Mr Chairman, on your appointment as Chair of the committee in the new legislative period. The architects of Monetary Union conceived the ECB as a central bank with a clear mandate and with strong provisions for its independence. But for a public institution in a democratic society, independence can never come without being commensurately transparent and accountable to the elected representatives of the people. The Monetary Dialogue is a key channel for the ECB to discharge its duty of central bank ... (full story)