In this interview excerpt, Jean-Claude Trichet, Director of the French Treasury from 1987 to 1993, Governor of the Banque de France from 1993 to 2003 and President of the European Central Bank (ECB) from 2003 to 2011, discusses the work of Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa during his time as a member of the first Executive Board of the ECB from 1998 to 2005, where he had particular responsibility for international relations.