the legislature considered that, in a small country like ours, whose human and material resources are bound to be limited, the way to achieve significant reinforcement of the resources allocated to financial stability is to develop substantial synergy between the various institutions concerned, in order to achieve the maximum economies of scale and to take the resources thus released and reallocate them to the basic functions of each institution. the law of 2 august 2002 provides that the rules governing the arrangements for pooling resources must be set out in a protocol concluded between the institutions concerned and approved by the king. without waiting for the official inauguration of the fsc, its members have agreed on a framework for exploiting synergy and have submitted proposals to the minister for achieving greater cooperation in regard to prudential policy and various support activities. the fsc has also set up a number of priority projects for the coming months, in particular the launch of a national coordination initiative on the subject of business continuity, which will take account, in particular, of the lessons which can be drawn from the events of 11 september 2001. in conclusion, i would simply say that this new committee and the far more historic institutions from which it emanates are firmly resolved that they will actively seek the solutions best suited to the general interest in the field entrusted to them, namely the field of financial stability.

measures. between 2000 and 2003, the budgetary deficit of general government in the euro area has risen from 1. 0 p. c. of gdp to 2. 7 p. c. the deficits of some countries have even exceeded the ceiling of 3 p. c. fiscal policy has thus not been an impediment to recovery. one might in fact wonder whether the stimulation of the economy intended by the fiscal easing in many countries was not eroded by the adverse impact which such a relaxation of discipline can have on the climate of confidence. it seems that people in europe more and more have a so called “ ricardian perception ” of fiscal deficits. they are more aware of the enormous challenges and costs our ageing society will entail. people in the different european countries are really worried about the long - term sustainability of public finances. high fiscal deficits will only worsen their anxiety and so incite them to increase their precautionary savings. the differences in gdp growth per capita between the us and europe are due to differences in labor utilisation and in productivity growth. the level of labor utilisation is much lower in the euro zone. three elements stand out. first, labor force participation rates, especially of women and the youngest and oldest age groups, are substantially lower in continental europe : more than 10 percentage points. second, unemployment rates are much higher : currently around 3 percentage points. third : annual hours worked per employee are lower by more than 300 hours. europe is of course not the us. it has its own specificities which should be taken into account. so at least part of the gap in average hours worked between the us and the euro area should be attributed to structural preferences rather than to structural rigidities. and in democratic societies people ’ s preferences have to be respected. however, when discussing this issue it has to be borne in mind that households also take into account the institutional environment and the system of incentives and disincentives in place, including tax, social security and pension systems when deciding on their labour supply. moreover, the problem to what extent the present european system is sustainable cannot be ignored. the so - called european model will come under increasing pressure from demographic factors. further policy changes towards stimulating labour supply are inevitable if living standards and social cohesion are to be preserved. last remark on the unequal growth between europe and the us. at a certain time europe was able to compensate a lower utilisation of labor through a higher