In her opening speech at the Bundesbank symposium on 28 May 2013 in Frankfurt, Sabine Lautenschläger took stock of the regulatory measures and highlighted areas where there was room for additional improvement.

Despite disagreeing on the details, these large European neighbours enjoy a basic consensus on the European model. In a speech in Paris, Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann made clear that the two countries share many very similar views.

In an interview with the French magazine Le Point, Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann rejects the idea of dividing the euro area: "The euro is our common currency, and it’s worth fighting for the stability of this currency. I regard this as the task of the Bundesbank and also my own task."

According to Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, sustainable public finances are a necessary precondition for a stable currency. At a conference in Paris, he stated: “Monetary policy in itself cannot create this precondition”.

In an interview with the Handelsblatt newspaper, Bundesbank Executive Board member Andreas Dombret discusses the manipulation of reference rates and possible alternatives to the current benchmarks. “Obviously, it would be best in the long run to establish several robust reference rates which are based as far as possible on actual transactions”.

The Deutsche Bundesbank issues €5 banknotes of the second euro banknote series, thus bringing the first denomination of the new “Europa” series into circulation in Germany.