with cards on which their brand is present even if their brand was not used ; • the pre - setting of priority at terminals regarding the brand that will be used without giving the retailer and / or cardholder any choice ; and • the rule that in the case of cross - border acquiring, it is always the interchange fee of the country of the merchant that applies ; therefore, i would like to invite the epc and the individual card schemes to take further action in the domain of business rules and to abolish practices that act as obstacles. 2 ) the second element that lays the foundations for sepa for cards are the technical standards ( i. e. card and terminal specifications, applications, messages and protocols ). the epc has published the “ sepa cards standardisation volume ”, which is now available to the market for comments. moreover, various market initiatives have developed or are developing more detailed standards. the epc will need to adopt these detailed standards as to complement its own work in the field. this would be a guarantee for interoperability, security and market access. without such detailed standards, i fear that technical fragmentation in europe will remain in place or will even be re - established. therefore, i believe that sepa for cards will not be a realistic undertaking unless there are implementable standards. in addition, sepa for cards needs a certification framework that will ensure trust, an appropriate level of security for cards and terminals, and “ one - stop shopping ” for manufacturers of terminals. on top of this, it is important not only to set standards, but also – equally so – to control them! the epc needs to decide on whether it should become a member of emvco and the pci ssc. the ecb is of the opinion that a stake on the part of the epc in these standardssetting bodies would be a way for europe to increase its coordinated influence in them. therefore, the selection of standards, a certification framework and a decision on its future role in the standards - setting bodies are areas in which the epc needs urgently to take action. 3 ) in my view, yet another ingredient necessary for the success of sepa for cards is a new european card scheme. the ecb has made a clear request to the european banking industry for the creation of such a scheme. joint research by de nederlandsche bank and the ecb 5 has shown that a new european card scheme could provide a decisive impetus to solving interoperability

on giving the private sector and markets a central role on the one hand, and relying upon sound public institutions to provide market participants with the appropriate environment on the other hand. this shift from direct public involvement to private activities is particular striking when looking at financial flows to emerging markets : in the 1980s, official flows were dominant, reaching on average over 60 % of total flows to emerging markets. by contrast, the 1990s saw a dramatic increase in private flows, which on average accounted for around 85 % ( in the period from 1990 until 2003 ). equally striking is the shift from bank loans to negotiable securities as the major financing tool for the developing countries. • the integration of the european union, reinforced with the introduction of the euro, has increased the economic, monetary and financial stability of a region that constitutes today the world ’ s largest trading partner and the second largest economy. the eu has also been crucial in anchoring the transition process in central and eastern europe, and in fostering stability and prosperity in this region. the dynamics of today ’ s world call for continued adjustment at a global level. new challenges have been added to existing ones, such as poverty reduction. new actors gained prominence on the international scene, with developing and emerging markets becoming progressively full participants in the globalised economy. the financial crises of the 1980s and the 1990s, characterised by large and sudden private financial flow reversals, marked by a very powerful contagion phenomenon and demonstrating some of the potential and actual vulnerabilities of the newly globalised financial system, led to an ambitious reform agenda to strengthen the international financial architecture. let me focus on the lessons from the crises in the 1990s and the ensuing work on the international financial architecture. on the basis of the experience with the mexican crisis in 1994 / 95, the g7 summit in halifax in june 1995 initiated work on improved crisis prevention and management. it called for improved transparency, both at the level of individual countries and at the imf, and for strengthened imf surveillance. the halifax summit also pointed to the importance of effective financial regulation, market - reinforced prudential supervision and enhanced international co - operation among regulators and supervisors. as for crisis management, concrete proposals were presented in the rey report to g10 ministers and governors in may 1996. work was stepped up in the aftermath of the asian crises, which revealed further vulnerabilities in national and international financial systems. but most importantly, the crises in the later 1990s showed that the systemic changes in the