Our experience with regard to the effects arising from EU banking groups’ activity in response to EBA’s requirements has provided a useful lesson for the future. In meetings on the Vienna Initiative II, we have many a times iterated that macroprudential policies undertaken in the euro area must take into account the relevant impact on non-EU host countries where systemically important EU bank subsidiaries operate. The home-host cooperation framework must help achieve better policy harmonization in the future, or, at least, provide for an early exchange of information in order to allow host countries to prepare in response to potential shocks. Furthermore, the functioning of supervisory colleges should provide for an effective exchange of supervisory information, and barriers to successful participation by non-EU host countries must be eliminated through combined efforts. Your institutions’ position on each of these issues is extremely valuable to provide a comprehensive view of the implications of EU authorities’ policies and banking groups’ activity in our region, as well as to assess the implications of the banking reforms currently underway in the EU. More specifically, I think that it would be useful for us to discuss along the following lines: •  What mechanisms may we use to revive credit growth in our economies, and what contribution do you expect by EU authorities and EU banking groups in this regard? •  How can we practically establish a permanent mechanism for coordination with the ECB, in the framework of the Banking Union?

This is not merely a short-term objective, but rather an important anchor for the region’s economic recovery with significant effects on both the economies of the region and the banking groups, which have declared their commitment to our region. We are currently witnessing a period of massive reforms in the EU supervisory architecture, with the establishment of the Banking Union. These reforms correspond to the reactivation of the Vienna Initiative II, hence providing a great opportunity to convey our relevant views as host countries to EU authorities. To support the Steering Committee of the Vienna Initiative, a Working Group has been established to take stock of the Banking Union implications, especially on non-member countries. We consider the creation of the Banking Union as both an ambitious challenge, and a great opportunity to lay down the groundwork for better and more coordinated supervision, especially in a cross-border context. The Banking Union shall involve a Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) under the guidance of the ECB, charged with supervising systemically important EU banks involved in cross-border operations. The measure is expected to change the coordination framework between home and host supervisors. This means that the insofar relationship of host countries with a number of national supervisory authorities will now be concentrated on bilateral relationships with the SSM in the case of branches or subsidiaries of systemically important EU banks. In this respect, the Bank of Albania has emphasized the need to establish a permanent working relationship with the ECB, and, possibly, appropriate mechanisms to achieve this.