on many fronts. putting the real economy truly center - stage means that we should build such europe that opens up opportunities to innovate and create new businesses and thus jobs. better institutions to prevent and manage crises, including stabilization policies, are no substitute for structural reforms that are needed to improve europe ’ s productivity and real competitiveness. finally, let ’ s recall that eurozone reform is closely linked to the overall future of europe and its union. the values of the enlightenment, which underpin the european social and political model, are now challenged both politically and socially, both from the inside and the outside. in this context the eurozone reform is an essential element of a broader endeavor to strengthen europe. as europeans, we should recognize the urgency of this effort, especially now as europe ’ s duty as a standard - bearer for liberal democracy and multilateral international order has become even more critical than it was still some years ago. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

olli rehn : don't delay eurozone reform due to political uncertainties remarks by mr olli rehn, governor of the bank of finland, distributed in writing ( as he was unable to attend the event ) for the visit of the eu heads of mission to the bank of finland, helsinki, 27 november 2018. * * * political fortunes in the member states of the european union have been quite cyclical recently. this should not delay the euro area reform that is necessary to reinforce the institutional foundations of the single currency. while there is political turmoil in several member states, at the same time there is broad support for the euro among citizens. this fact is highlighted by the results of parlemeter2018, the latest eurobarometer survey measuring public attitudes to the eu across the member states. the survey contains some reassuring results. it indicates that the confidence of europeans in the eu and in their common currency is on the rise, and is now actually higher than for many years : 77 per cent of the respondents residing in the euro area countries say that they are for the monetary union, the highest figure recorded since 2004. these results are welcome, but do not justify any complacency. a look at the time series reveals that the support for european unification much depends on the economic situation of the citizens. the recent positive results are probably driven by the improved performance of the euro area economy, in particular employment. the number of jobs in the eurozone has now passed the 2008 peak, and unemployment is still falling. political risks, emanating from the continuing global trade disputes, the badly scripted brexit drama and the worries about the italian budget, have not derailed the european recovery, at least not yet. despite the major reforms in 2010 – 2014 to reinforce economic governance and build up the banking union, we should not close our eyes from the remaining systemic weaknesses of the euro area architecture. the lessons learnt from the crisis should be remembered, and the breathing space created by the recovery as well as the support of the electorate should be used for completing the institutional and functional reform of the monetary union. it is clear that financial stability was grossly neglected when the economic and monetary union was created – it proved to be the ” neglected stepchild ” of maastricht, as has been said. the work for correcting those mistakes is still incomplete. it is now widely accepted that financial stability requires a banking system that can better withstand shocks ; the severing of the