ewald nowotny : boosting eu competitiveness – the role of the cesee countries opening remarks by prof dr ewald nowotny, governor of the central bank of the republic of austria, at the conference on european economic integration ( ceei ) 2015, warsaw, 15 october 2015. * * * dear president belka, ladies and gentlemen, • let me express a very warm welcome to this joint event also on behalf of the coorganizer, the oesterreichische nationalbank. cooperating on a joint project is always a great opportunity to learn from each other, to establish contacts with new people and to view one and the same topic from different angles. the impressive conference program that we have on the agenda today and tomorrow is excellent proof of the benefits of such joint ventures. • but changing the setting of a well - established conference series may also be somewhat risky. i am therefore very glad to see that many of the traditional participants in the oenb ’ s conference on european integration have joined us here in warsaw. • i would like to thank president belka and the conference team at the polish central bank for their tireless efforts in making this event happen and for their great hospitality. • both conference series, the oenb ’ s conference on european economic integration and the nbp ’ s conference on the future of the european economy share a common focus on the path of future integration in europe. • since its very beginning, the european integration process has been a dual process of both deepening and enlargement. what started out as just a small community of no more than six countries with a very narrow cooperation focus aimed to prevent any future wars in europe has now reached a stage where the european union counts 28 members and where monetary union and banking union have become a reality for a subset of 19 countries. • even more importantly, we have found a way to deal with the fact that eu member states proceed with integration at different speeds. in particular the euro area countries have further deepened their integration, for example via the single supervisory mechanism ( ssm ), which later may attract additional members. this paves the way for progress even in view of diverging opinions while respecting the different political and economic conditions of the member countries. • i fully agree with my friend marek that the two biggest challenges that the eu and especially emu have to tackle today are anemic growth and uncertainties relating to the future of emu and also of the eu.

euro area can be attributed at least in part to improved economic structures and is based on the stability - oriented framework of emu. the governing council of the ecb will continue to support this upswing by acting vigorously to maintain price stability. moreover, the international competitiveness of the euro area has to be improved. with structural reforms still ahead, the euro area economy seems vulnerable to an abrupt unwinding of global imbalances in the us and asia. today, there is large consensus in europe that lower growth in the eu is largely structural in nature. in order to improve its position in the global economy, we have to work on reducing growth differentials, in particular vis - a - vis the us. we should respond with policies designed to use opportunities of globalization, particularly to increase productivity and growth, while minimizing unavoidable adjustment costs. the right answer to globalization and international competition is therefore to continue and intensify the structural reform process. standstill would be detrimental. in this context, let me mention the moribund doha round, which has even cast doubt on the future of the world trade organization ( wto ). although calls for protectionist measures to counter the increasing competition from asian economies should be taken seriously, i stand on the side of free trade and believe that protectionist pressures need to be firmly resisted. there is no doubt that globalization has worked well for the people of europe. after nearly nine years of experience, economic and monetary union and the euro have proven to be europe ’ s most forceful strategic responses in a changing global economy. it is said that : “ change is inevitable ; growth is optional. ” in a globalized world, europe has chosen to grow.