##estimate the effort made by spanish private - sector firms, suggesting that the external adjustment has been due exclusively to the fall in domestic demand. this decline naturally plays a part, but the improvement is also attributable to the relative gains in our export shares compared with other developed countries. during the years of crisis, spain has seen its exports outgrow those of france, italy and even germany, and this situation should not worsen in the coming years. and not only has there been an improvement in exports, but the decline in imports has been greater than the fall in domestic demand, which also shows gains in the share of sales of spanish products at home. behind these improvements in the current - account balance is the significant progress recorded in the trade and services balance. traditionally, spain ’ s trade balance with our european partners has run a deficit. two years ago, this deficit had already fallen to €4 billion, but the good news is that at the end of last year it ran a surplus of a similar amount, meaning that, last year alone, there was a favourable turnaround of €8 billion in terms of spain ’ s trade balance with the countries of the union. at a greater level of detail we can see how the non - energy goods balance improved from a deficit of €50 billion, i. e. 5 % of gdp, in 2008 to a deficit of only €5 billion, i. e. 0. 5 % of gdp, at end - 2011. and the balance of non - tourist services, which has traditionally run a deficit, moved into a surplus of €4. 7 billion at end - 2011 after posting a deficit of €2 billion in 2008. a further example of the progress made during these difficult years has been the restructuring of our credit institutions. the lehman brothers crisis forced many countries to adopt numerous measures during 2009 to repair their banking systems. as is known, in spain ’ s case the direct effect of the international financial crisis – the sudden emergence of toxic assets on bank balance sheets – was minimal, thanks to the soundness of our regulation and supervision and to our banks ’ business model. but the indirect effects of the international crisis, such as the decline in gdp and the drying up of bank funding, seriously affected our system. undoubtedly, the most significant effect of the global crisis on our banks was the fact that the path of gradual adjustment of imbalances that spain had undertaken and which until then was the scenario shared by all analysts and national

convergence of supervisory practices is particularly intense in the eu. fora such as the basel committee ’ s aig ( accord implementation group ) or the cebs ( committee of european banking supervisors ) in the eu are a response to this call. but growing co - operation with counterparts in other countries is also vital for supervisors, because a global financial system cannot be effectively supervised without a suitable degree of co - operation providing for mutual trust and information exchange. international co - operation, in sum, is a cornerstone of global financial stability and of the extension of best international practices in this field. within europe, the new capital directive reinforces this approach by establishing colleges of supervisors for transnational financial groups, but also through the role of lead supervisor on a consolidated basis. moreover, the extension of the so - called lamfalussy approach from the securities industry to banking and insurance is a clear commitment to a co - operative and evolutionary approach, constructed on the strength and knowledge of national supervisors. this supervisory co - operationintensive model increases the responsibility of national supervisors, since it is only sustainable insofar as it provides appropriate responses, eliminates obstacles and encourages the necessary financial integration. although only about 40 of the 8, 000 european deposit institutions engage in significant transnational activity, the european banking market is integrating at considerable speed. even though the pace of integration may seem limited, with few cross - border operations annually, international competition in each of our domestic financial systems is increasingly patent and intense. further, some market segments have undergone unprecedented growth. the euro interbank market and the asset - backed bond market are now fully integrated and fully accessible to more than these pan - european institutions. such is the european financial system, which combines integrated segments with retail banking markets that are not even national but local, and transnational institutions among the biggest in the world with small banks with just a handful of employees. accordingly, the lifting of barriers to integration must remain high on the agenda of community and national authorities. i would not wish to conclude this section without referring to the efforts of the banco de espana to inform bank customers. but before discussing our initiatives in this area, we should stress that our efforts here are aimed at reinforcing financial stability. just as solvent, efficient and competitive entities are the best guarantee of stability in a financial system open to international competition, customers with sufficient financial acumen who are demanding in their dealings with banks are also a basic pillar of the efficiency of the financial system and of its stability