Jos Marn Arcas Head of Division Euro Area

José Marín Arcas Head of Division Euro Area Macroeconomic Developments Riga, 22 February 2013 The experience with the euro and the importance of remaining competitive Conference on experience with the preparation of the euro

Rubric Euro Area and German HICP (annual percentage changes) Notes: (1) For Germany, national CPI is used until December 1998 and German HICP afterwards. (2) For Germany the average 48 years before 1999 is also available and equals 2. 8%. Last observation refers to December 2012 for German HICP and January 2013 for euro area HICP.

Rubric COMPENSATION PER EMPLOYEE (Indices, base 2005 Q 1=100) Sources: Eurostat and ECB calculations. Latest observations refer to 2012 -Q 3.

Rubric NOMINAL DOMESTIC DEMAND (Indices, base 2005 Q 1=100) Sources: Eurostat and ECB calculations. Latest observations refer to 2012 -Q 3.

Rubric LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY PER HOUR (Indices, base 2005 Q 1=100) Sources: Eurostat and ECB calculations. Latest observations refer to 2012 -Q 3.

Rubric UNIT LABOUR COSTS PER HOUR (Indices, base 2005 Q 1=100) Sources: Eurostat and ECB calculations. Latest observations refer to 2012 -Q 3.

Rubric EXTERNAL BALANCE OF GOODS AND SERVICES (% of GDP) Sources: Eurostat and ECB calculations. Latest observations refer to 2012 -Q 3.

Rubric EMPLOYEES (Indices, base 2005 Q 1=100) Sources: Eurostat and ECB calculations. Latest observations refer to 2012 -Q 34 for Germany and 2012 -Q 3 otherwise.

Rubric CONCLUSION If you don’t want to get into trouble and have to undertake a painful adjustment inside a monetary union, do not lose competitiveness