accountability with the european parliament and how grateful i was for it. many more would follow and you effectively ensured that the ecb would be accountable and therefore could legitimately be independent in carrying out its monetary policy. but i am also grateful for the support that this committee always expressed for the actions of the ecb, a sincere support because it built on the voice of european citizens and an important support that helped the ecb through the many difficult times of the past years. as co - legislators your role was also essential in delivering reforms that further strengthened our union. this committee, and the european parliament more generally, has been in my experience an attentive interpreter of the demands of european citizens. it is only by doing so that the trust in the legitimacy of the eu ’ s institutions and policies is built, making it possible to achieve a more effective and inclusive union. as i have argued elsewhere, citizens demand, and parliament may help in achieving, a “ more perfect union ”. a union that will continue providing its citizens with physical and economic security, while also promoting the values of an open, democratic and peaceful society. thank you for your attention. i am now at your disposal for questions. 1 see speech by mario draghi, president of the european central bank, at the plenary debate of the european parliament on the ecb ’ s annual report 2017, strasbourg, 15 january 2019. 2 committee for the study of economic and monetary union presided over by delors, jacques, “ report on economic and monetary union in the european community ”, 17 april, 1989. 3 see the international role of the euro – interim report, european central bank, june 2018. 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches

mortgage loans amount to around eur 0. 4 trillion by now, as, over the last few years, we have seen issuance of covered bonds begin to increase in several european countries. such capital market funding instruments could indeed also facilitate the integration of mortgage markets, as mortgage loans could more easily be granted cross - border, without first requiring costly access to a local deposit base for their funding. accordingly, we are witnessing numerous initiatives by the private sector to achieve some progress in the integration of these important market segments. the situation of the european mortgage market, and that of retail financial services in general, has also been brought to our attention by the european commission. first, in december 2004, the report of the european commission ’ s forum group on mortgage credit was published, in which a number of recommendations for tackling barriers to the further integration of eu mortgage credit markets were made. second, the european commission ’ s green paper on the priorities of the financial services policy over the next five years, which was open for public consultation until 1 august, identified retail financial services as one of the areas in which financial integration is clearly lagging behind. and third, in july, the european commission issued a green paper on “ mortgage credit in the eu ” for public consultation by end november. connected to this green paper consultation, the european commission asked a research institute to prepare a study on the estimated costs and benefits of the integration of eu mortgage markets, to assess the degree to which eu mortgage markets are integrated and to identify the obstacles to their further integration. the study, which was published in august of this year, concludes, with all caveats that apply to the model underlying the estimation, 7 / 11 that full integration of eu mortgage markets would raise eu gdp by 0. 7 % and eu private consumption by 0. 5 % in 2015, i. e. ten years from now. 4 this would thus constitute a further step in the direction of raising the eu ’ s growth potential which i referred to earlier. having dealt with how the eurosystem can foster european financial integration by enhancing knowledge and raising awareness of the state of and the need for fostering european financial integration and by measuring the progress made, let me now turn to the other three kinds of activity mentioned earlier : providing central banking services that are also conducive to fostering financial integration, acting as a catalyst for private - sector activities and advising on the legislative and regulatory framework for the financial system. i will begin with the latter.