Trichet also said that “Europe cannot again in the next years be put in a situation where the financial sector is about to collapse in the advanced economies and at the global level, or a situation in which it is necessary on both sides of the Atlantic, for taxpayers to put approximately 27 per cent of GDP on the table to stabilise the system and avoid a major global depression. The ECB cannot do that twice. The people in our democracies would not accept that.”

When asked about the future of the ESRB and the UK , Trichet said that he expects that the cooperation with the UK authorities, particularly with the Bank of England will be extraordinarily close.