ECB head Mario Draghi visited the European Parliament on Monday to take part in two hearings before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, one on the central bank’s monetary policy and the second on systemic risk.

He assured that the exchange rate is not the central bank’s policy target, but that it is important for the evaluation of price stability and growth. This way Mario Draghi referred to the G20 meeting held last weekend, which focused on the issue of currency manipulation and during which the participating nations pledged to refrain from resorting to competitive currency devaluation.

He also said that Europe “entered 2013 in a more stable financial environment than in recent years” but at the same time he warned that the risks to the European economy were still tilted to the downside. He listed the weakening of exports, the failure to timely implement structural reforms by EU governments and geopolitical issues as the three main threats.

Mario Draghi reiterated that the ECB’s monetary policy stance would remain accommodative.