 So, good morning to all of you, thank you for coming, for what is clearly a very precious, very rich and very ritual moment at the same time. And I have to say that I'm very honoured to be here today to sign the bank note. And I would like to say just a few words before I do that. It was this famous economist John Kenneth Galbraith who said about money the following. When money is bad, people want it to be better. When it is good, they think of other things. Well, his point was that we want sound money, not as an end in and of itself, but because it frees us to do the things that we really care about, to work, to invest, to trade, to establish relationships, to innovate and that's what money should actually underline. And that's ultimately why the ECB exists, to secure the trust in money so that people can really focus on what matters to them. And this is why our mandate and our main objective reflects the well-known functions of money. We have been tasked with monetary policy and banking supervision to ensure that the euro is safe, that the euro is stable, so that it can serve as an effective store of value. And our payment systems and bank notes make the euro a dependable medium of exchange. Store of value, medium of exchange, those are two key functions and attributes of money. And these tasks actually shape our role as custodians of the euro. It is bank notes, actually, that are perhaps the most visible task for many European citizens. They stand out as our most tangible product. They can hold them in their hands. They can transact with them and use them on a daily basis. And our euro bank notes in different ways serve as this binding element between the people of the euro area. It is the cement that keeps us together as an economy. There are three dimensions to that. Let me just go through each and every one of them. The first one is the role of bank notes as the lifeblood of the economy. In the euro area, bank notes are used to transact for retail transactions. And they are the most frequently used means of payment. 79% of all transactions are actually conducted in cash, in bank notes, in coins. And that amounts to no less than a little over half of the total value of all payments. So 78% of transactions, however small or large, 50% of amount transacted. And since the introduction, the number of euro bank notes in circulation has risen steadily, reflecting both the importance of cash in our economy and the euro's international appeal. There are now 23 billion euro bank notes in circulation with the value of 1.26 trillion euros, a third of which is actually being used outside the euro area. The function of bank notes is of course common across many advanced economies, but there is something special about the euro. And that's the second dimension. Our bank notes reflect a more fundamental development, which is the decades-long effort to bring Europe closer together. In a union of diverse countries, it is inherently more difficult to foster common identity and a sense of shared destiny. We have different languages, we have different cuisine, we have different history, although we share quite a lot of it. But what we all have in common is the currency, the euro, those bank notes. It is the most tangible symbol of European integration, a process which has brought peace, freedom, and prosperity to our continent. And people do feel that. If you ask the people of Europe what is for them the attributes of Europe that brings them together, that has been the great achievement, of course they will mention peace, of course they will mention Erasmus and the movement of people, capital good, but they will no doubt mention the euro as well. And why is that? Because the currency has given a face, has given a tangible element to that integration process. Euro bank notes allow us to work, to study, to travel in 19 different countries without having to exchange currencies. It's a smooth transition throughout the 19 countries. The third dimension that makes euro bank notes a unifying force in Europe is their design features. To those of you who are listening to me, take out a couple of euro bank notes and look at them. It features all sorts of architectural design, bridges, windows, doors, pillars that are actually the symbol of our European culture. We talk about the green back for the dollar. Well maybe the euro should be the blue bridge or some architectural device that is shared between the 19 countries. This highlight, despite our diversity, shows that we share a culture that is largely rooted in that common heritage and that has never been contained by national boundaries. The other common feature under this shared heritage is the security feature that you will see on your bank note. The hologram and the watermark, what do they look like? But they look like the portrait of Europa, a figure from Greek mythology which serves as the face of the euro. So it is clear that when I sign my name in a few minutes, I will not simply be undertaking a procedural and bureaucratic task for future issue and self bank notes. But it's also a huge privilege and a task that I endorse on behalf of the entire ECB and the euro system to actually protect the euro and act as the custodian of that currency which is our shared value. So far, I think the system and the ECB have done a fine job. Support for the euro has reached an all time high with 76% of our citizens now in favor of the single currency. 76% of our citizens favor the euro as a currency. Trust in our currency exists and it is our duty to protect it, to enrich it, to make progress. And as some would say, trust come on foot but goes on horses. So this is very, very precious and we have to secure it. It is our duty to do that, nurture it, sustain the trust by ensuring that the bank notes are secure, that payment systems are robust and the value of the euro is stable. This is certainly the mission of the ECB. Now I'm going to proceed and sign. You will have a bit of time to take photos because I'm signing six times just in case. So here we go. Everything matters. The size of the pen, okay, I'll take this one. All right, I'm going to move that to feel more comfortable doing it. I can show you, although it looks like three more to go. Sure, you just hold them. You okay? Perfect. All right, thank you very much. No, we do another one. Yes, yes, yes. Now you have to come and show me exactly where I sign. Here and underneath, okay. And it should be contained here. Can you see? It's easier if I move than if you move. The blue euro, I'll give it back to you. Thank you very much.