bankers ’ speeches as a conclusion, let me recognise the very good progress made in ssm supervision and banking union more generally. the banking union corrects a basic imbalance we had between nationally fragmented supervision and internationally integrated banking markets. and in doing that, national interests, and i would argue that banks ’ interests as well, are taken care of while matching regulatory and supervisory institutions with the reality of banking business. we now have a structure which for the first time in the history of the european union will allow the supervision and resolution of banks to be based on a european mandate. by pooling a part of the national sovereignty, weak when separate, strong when united, the countries belonging to the banking union have gained access to the european level decision making in the key areas of supervision, crisis resolution, as well as in the regulation of banks. bis central bankers ’ speeches

our colleagues here in minsk looked on with great interest as the project took shape. during the implementation phase, the polish colleagues took on the project components payment systems and risk management, the lithuanians handled the banking supervision and financial risk management components, and the bundesbank colleagues were responsible for the financial consumer protection and communication policy components. our counterparts at the national bank of belarus brought a strong work ethic and commendable commitment to the table right from the outset. we were all united by an all - round determination to make the project a success and by the “ corporate spirit ” that central bankers around the world feel they belong to. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches at today ’ s concluding celebration, everyone involved in this joint project can look back on the months of hard work and in - depth treatment of the subject matter, on the many discussions of different professional and personal perspectives, and on the host of good personal contacts, and perhaps even friendships, that have grown from it. 4 closing words of gratitude ladies and gentlemen, having said all that, allow me to close with a few words of thanks to the people behind the project. thank you mr kalechits for embarking on this “ european adventure ” and for being open to the idea of eu twinning not just from the beginning but over the entire timeline as a project manager. i ’ d also like to thank mr samecki and ms kuniyoshi for your interest in forming a consortium between your institutions and the deutsche bundesbank and for the large - scale staff support you gave to the project. my thanks also go to ms wiktorin for bringing eu twinning to belarus and for your constant positive presence at the side of the participating central banks as they jumped in at the deep end. and finally, thank you to all of you who have made your own personal contribution to the success of the project and whose names i wouldn´t be able to mention now without running out of time : the managers of the components, the visiting experts and all those who took on the vital administrative work. the great jean monnet once said of europe : “ we are not allying states, we are bringing together people ”. 1 in this spirit, i hope that the eu twinning project with the national bank of belarus will not be the last one. thank you for your attention. 1 1 “ nous ne coalisons pas des etats, nous unissons les hommes. ” speech in washington on