His main message was the need for eurozone politicians to come up with a vision for the union’s future. But he also admitted that his university thesis was sceptical about the idea of a single currency area.

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday how at least some Greece banks are being kept alive by about €100bn in “emergency liquidity assistance”, a facility meant to be used only by banks in the direst of need. The massive demand followed the ECB’s decision to exclude four Greek banks from its regular liquidity providing operations because of uncertainty over their future financial strength.

ELA, provided by national central banks rather than the ECB, is meant to be used only in exceptional circumstances — and requires special approval by the ECB’s governing council. We know its use has been heavy in Greece and Ireland. But as I have noted before, there is still a considerably amount of unexplained ELA about.

Eurozone economic woes have deteriorated noticeably, and Spanish police are on guard for possibly aggressive demonstrations. Here are some ideas on how ECB governing council members may be thinking:

If I am right, it could be that a bank (or several banks) somewhere in the eurozone is (are), in effect, being bailed out by national authorities. Fingers will inevitably point to Spain.

ELA is only given in the direst of circumstances, when a bank is no longer eligible to take part in regular liquidity operations, and has to be specially approved by the ECB’s 23-strong governing council in Frankfurt.

Under current arrangements, payments for former ECB staff in retirement increase on average less than consumer prices, according to Carlos Bowles, chairman of the ECB staff committee.

Eurozone stability is not quite as secure as it seemed a month ago, just after the second of the ECB’s three year longer-term refinancing operations, which brought the total amount injected into the eurozone financial system to more than €1trn. Spain has challenged the effectiveness of the region’s new “fiscal compact” — seen by Mario Draghi, ECB president, as essential to restoring the eurozone’s credibility.

The former Bundesbank vice-president’s comments are given expansive treatment in Handelsblatt, the business newspaper — they are spread over six tabloid pages. Two points struck me as novel.

Germany’s Bild today a large photograph of the European Central Bank president laughing enthusiastically on being presented with an original 1871 Prussian spiked helmet by the newspaper’s editorial staff.  It was obviously meant in jest. But was it demeaning for a supposedly serious central banker?

The picture refers back to Bild’s original endorsement of Mr Draghi for the ECB presidency last year, a move which signalled Germans were prepared to accept an Italian in charge of their currency.

Last week, a leaked letter from Jens Weidmann, Bundesbank president, highlighted rising anxiety at Germany’s central bank over the risks entailed in the ECB’s extraordinary actions to support the eurozone banking system, which have seen it inject more than €1trn in three-year liquidity in recent months.

How Mr Draghi responds to the confrontation at his press conference after Thursday’s governing council meeting could determine the extent to which his stewardship of the eurozone crisis is undermined by Bundesbank resistance.

The dispute could well dominate Thursday’s proceedings: with the ECB still waiting to see the impact of its liquidity measures on the real economy, no change is expected in interest rates. The suspense over Greece’s bail-out is unlikely to have cleared.

Mr Weidmann’s letter created considerable irritation and bewilderment among other members of the ECB’s 23-strong governing council.