the european union across national borders. hence, the capital markets union fosters cross - border private financial risk sharing. in the european union, smes account for a share of over 90 % in total businesses, which patently illustrates the potential of the capital markets union initiative to promote sustainable growth. only 3, 000 of the 20 million smes in europe are listed on a stock exchange. this is about to change, as rules have been proposed that make it easier for smes to tap into a wide range of funding at all stages of their development and i fully trust the initiative and energy of my friend christoph leitl, president of eurochambers and co - initiator of this conference, to achieve progress in this field. let us not forget that all eu countries, except two with an opt - out, should one day adopt the euro. however, compared to the situation before the crisis, the setting in which euro area enlargement is taking place has changed profoundly. lessons drawn from the crisis have substantially transformed the institutional set - up of emu itself. in particular, the creation of the ssm has added an entirely new dimension to future euro area accession processes. at the same time, experience from the crisis has sharpened the views of policymakers, both in the current euro area member states as well in the non - euro area members, on what it takes for an individual country to participate smoothly in a monetary union. in a nutshell, we are today facing twin challenges in the eu – namely, that of deepening monetary union for the euro area countries and that of achieving convergence to allow for a smooth integration into monetary union for those eu member states not yet part of the euro area. at today ’ s and tomorrow ’ s conference, renowned experts and policy makers will provide us with new insights and help us understand where we stand right now in terms of emu deepening and convergence. let us take this opportunity to discuss what the major risks and needs for actions are. during austria ’ s eu presidency, we will strive to help master these challenges. i look very much forward to stimulating presentations and fruitful discussions, and i wish you an interesting and pleasant stay in linz.

financial integration. in 2017, the european economy grew at its fastest rate in 10 years and for the first time since 2007, all member states saw their economies expand. for 2018, gdp growth is expected to remain strong, based on strong private consumption as well as increased investment and exports, and unemployment rates are receding toward pre - crisis levels. robust growth helps both further reduce government deficit and debt levels and improve labor market conditions. “ the wind is back in europe ’ s sails. but we will go nowhere unless we catch that wind, ” as president juncker said in his 2017 state of the union address. we can use the current good times to make our economies more resilient. this means building fiscal buffers and implementing further economic reforms to strengthen the foundations of our economic and monetary union. we have already made great strides in making its architecture more robust, but it is still not complete. further work lies ahead to make sure that the benefits of emu reach all eu citizens. the date of this year ’ s economics conference was not chosen randomly. the beginning of july coincides with the start of the austrian eu presidency in the second half of 2018. after 1998 and 2006, this is now the third time that austria is holding the presidency of the council of the european union. this time, the presidency faces major challenges including • the brexit negotiations with the u. k., • the debates on the multi - annual financial framework, • progress in completing banking union, • the implementation of the european security and migration agenda, • the fight against terrorism, and • the debate on the future of the european union. the austrian eu presidency takes place at a politically sensitive time as the european parliament ’ s legislative period ends in 2019. important dossiers have to be finalized before the european elections in spring 2019. for the european union as a whole, the euro is a symbol of a peaceful europe, a keystone of economic integration and political unity. for the world, the euro has become a major player in the international monetary system and the second most important global currency. the single currency rests on a common monetary policy, where the governing council of the ecb can and must only target the euro area aggregate when taking monetary policy decisions. in mid - 2012, mario draghi ’ s statement that the ecb is ready to do “ whatever it takes to preserve the euro, ” within our mandate undoubtedly reestablished confidence in sovereign bonds. in response to the crisis, the eu moreover