By way of example, we need to design mechanisms so that large multinationals, particularly in the technological field, do not ultimately pose a risk to market competition conditions and so they may contribute to the sustainability of the welfare system. In this connection, the OECD is currently spearheading initiatives to improve the taxation of these companies. Another good example of the importance of concerted action concerns the need to urgently tackle the consequences of climate change. c. The case of the Economic and Monetary Union The Economic and Monetary Union is a good example of the dual need to improve the governance framework and, in parallel, to apply policies at the national level enabling growth and citizens’ well-being to increase. 5  In fact, despite the improvements made in the past decade, it is vital to strengthen European integration, especially through the completion of the EMU governance reforms. Specifically, as I have said on various occasions2, we must move promptly towards creating a single capital market and completing the Banking Union. These two initiatives are key both to the financing of investment and business innovation and to achieving a more robust and resilient monetary union in the face of adverse shocks. The Banking Union is a crucially important and far-reaching project for European construction. And this is why it is essential not to leave it unfinished. Following the start-up of the Single Supervision Mechanism and the Single Resolution Fund, efforts should focus on reaching an agreement on the launch of the European Deposit Insurance Scheme.

28.01.2020  Multilateralism and globalisation reforms Presentation of the book Excesos: Amenazas a la prosperidad global, by Emilio Ontiveros Pablo Hernández de Cos Governor  Good evening Honourable Minister and Authorities, ladies and gentlemen. It is an honour to be here at the presentation of Professor Emilio Ontiveros’s book Excesos: Amenazas a la prosperidad global (Excesses: Threats to global prosperity), and to share some thoughts with you on the subjects it addresses. As has habitually been the case in his extensive academic and popularised work, Professor Ontiveros hits the nail on the head in his analysis of one of the main challenges posed by the current international landscape: the characterisation of and the risks associated with the economic and financial globalisation witnessed in recent decades. His work is immense, as it requires deep-seated knowledge of the wealth of interrelated factors that shape the highly complex and changing economic, political and social situation at present. As is also habitual for the author, he is successful in his venture: he presents a profound and well-structured analysis of the issue. And one that is, moreover, reader-friendly and comprehensible. Our congratulations, Emilio. 1. The book’s main line of argument As Professor Ontiveros rightly says, the globalisation and growing openness of economies to the flow of trade, finance, persons and knowledge, lauded by many just some years back as the fundamental driver of global economic development, is now questioned by significant economic, political and social agents, at least in its current form.