use different technical solutions and environments. hence, it is logical to seek to draw on the synergies between both systems. modernising target2, leveraging the possibilities which are already available in t2s and consolidating the technical and functional components of target2 and t2s services are the primary objectives. the governing council strongly supports these objectives. 1 / 3 bis central banker's speeches in addition, consolidating target2 and t2s provides an opportunity to further improve cyber resilience, to enhance the services offered to users and to establish a single access channel. during the investigation phase of the project, which will run throughout 2017, we will follow up on this year ’ s market consultation that was launched in february with the release of a consultative report on real - time gross settlement ( rtgs ) services. 2. settlement services to support instant payments for the eurosystem, the biggest challenge of digitalisation in the payments industry is to ensure that the introduction of innovative payment products and services that are developed by the market does not reintroduce fragmentation into the european market. that is why the eurosystem fosters the development and implementation of pan - european solutions. one of the most prominent of these innovative services is instant payments. by november 2017 end - user solutions for instant payments in euro should be made available at pan - european level by payment service providers. this means that by november 2017 the european financial market infrastructure has to be ready to clear and / or settle instant payments on a pan - european scale. the governing council has decided that it will launch and closely monitor an investigation with market participants on the necessity of extending settlement operating hours for a subset of its regular settlement services up to 24 / 7 / 365 to allow for real - time settlement of instant payments. instant clearing will be supported by the delivery of an enhanced target2 functionality for the automated clearing houses. the project per se does not question the efforts of the achs to offer instant clearing. this is because instant clearing and instant settlement are complementary services ( since the availability of instant settlement can make instant clearing less costly ). it is true that they are also alternative services ( since instant clearing may replace the need for instant settlement and vice versa ). furthermore, the project is the best guarantee that a pan - european solution for the processing of instant payments will be available since target2 is already a pan - european solution. if deemed feasible, it is understood that real - time settlement of instant

payments would be offered by the eurosystem at full cost recovery. as this is a pressing topic, the aim of the investigation is to reach a decision on whether to go ahead with this by the end of the first quarter of 2017 in order to not delay the go - live of announced market initiatives. 3. eurosystem collateral management system as the euro area ’ s banking and financial markets become increasingly integrated, demand for more efficient collateral management arrangements within the eurosystem central bank community is increasing. to date, collateral management in the eurosystem is rather fragmented as each national central bank has its own procedures and systems in place. as a consequence, some collateral management services are not provided in a fully harmonised manner. as we look to the future, the eurosystem will strive to drive harmonisation forwards, particularly regarding eurosystem operations for the mobilisation of marketable assets, as well as the handling procedures for non - marketable assets, which still vary across the central banks. furthermore, the eurosystem will investigate, throughout 2017, the business case for and the scope and cost of a possible common eurosystem collateral management system for managing eligible assets used as collateral in the eurosystem credit operations. conclusion the three components of the eurosystem ’ s strategy for the evolution of its market infrastructure 2 / 3 bis central banker's speeches are interconnected, such as shared software components, shared network infrastructure, shared hardware components, the use of the future market infrastructure single gateway. at the end of the investigation into the business case for and the scope and cost of each one, a decision will be taken as to whether they will be developed into projects with different durations. you may rest assured that throughout the investigation and decision, we will live up to the treaty and our mandate. thank you. 3 / 3 bis central banker's speeches