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

this upgrade of our production structure will make european – and italian – firms better prepared for international markets. we already see signs of improvements. extra - euro area export volumes have rebounded markedly over the last few months. this rebound has been broad - based, but particularly pronounced for capital goods and intermediate goods, where europe and italy are important suppliers. the geographical composition of foreign demand will also be a supporting factor. it is relatively strong for eastern european countries which do not belong to the union, for opec members, as well as for latin america and africa. all these regions account for almost a quarter of euro area exports. at the same time, a self - sustaining recovery cannot abstract from intra - union trade and domestic investment in plant capacity, technologies and human capital. here, many members of the european union – and this country in particular – need to advance farther. the lack of investment in capital and skills erodes competitiveness. lack of long - term economic competitiveness, in turn, can sap confidence and undermine the union ’ s internal cohesion. economies, such as italy, that in the aggregate have observed a decrease in their market shares need to launch a new long - term competitiveness strategy to harness domestic manpower, skills and capital to the best of their potential. structural reforms are critical to this process. and i would like to refer here to the constant messages of banca d ’ italia on reforms in the markets of goods and services, in the labour market and in the domain of pensions. i would also mention three points : an upgrade of highlevel education is the top one ; regulatory simplification and the reduction of bureaucratic costs for business activity – in particular for business start - ups ; and the dismantling of rentseeking positions – which tax disposable incomes and the economic potential. in italy, in particular, the pricing chain – notably in the service sector – would benefit from be streamlined to increase the flexibility of goods prices. none of these avenues will be possible without a critical commitment on the side of the public authority. but in the end, as i said, you entrepreneurs are very important actors of structural change. concluding remarks you have a sound platform on which you can build your future. first, healthy private finance. italy never indulged in the financial excesses of the recent past. it remains a manufacturing economy, where finance is first and foremost a support to real economic production. strong saving propensities and prudent banking represent