therefore worries me that greece might go backwards in terms of its reform agenda. suffice to say, it is not enough to correct misalignments solely at the national level. we also need structural reforms at the european level. and here, a lot has been done since the crisis broke out. first, the rules of the stability and growth pact were tightened and a fiscal compact was adopted in order to restore confidence in public finances. second, a procedure for identifying macroeconomic imbalances at an early stage was established. and third, a crisis mechanism was set up to serve as a “ firewall ”, safeguarding the stability of the financial system in the euro area. in addition to these measures, the euro area took a major step toward deeper financial integration. on 4 november 2014, the first pillar of a european banking union was put in place. on that day, the ecb assumed responsibility for supervising the 123 largest banks in the euro area. together, the banks concerned account for more than 85 % of the aggregate bis central bankers ’ speeches balance sheet of the euro area ’ s banking sector, making the ecb one of the biggest banking supervisors in the world. taking banking supervision from the national level to the european level has three concrete benefits. first, european banking supervision allows banks in the entire euro area to be supervised in a uniform manner according to the same high standards. these harmonised standards will emerge from the cross - border sharing of experience, noting the best aspects of each national approach to banking supervision and adopting these for use at the european level. second, european banking supervision makes it possible to effectively identify and manage cross - border problems. this is essential because large banks are usually active in more than one country. third, taking banking supervision from the national to the european level will add a degree of separation between supervisors and the banks they supervise. this will prevent supervisors from handling their banks with kid - gloves out of national interest. as you can see, we have come to expect a lot from european banking supervision. and in 2016, the single supervisory mechanism will be supplemented by a european resolution mechanism for banks. this will be the final step on the road to banking union and a major step forward in designing a better framework for the european monetary union. 4. conclusion ladies and gentlemen looking at current events, some of you may feel reminded of what happened in 2010 and in 2012. nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that, in the past five years, we have made considerable

andreas dombret : the euro area – where do we stand? speech by dr andreas dombret, member of the executive board of the deutsche bundesbank, at the german - turkish chamber of trade and commerce, istanbul, 10 february 2015. * 1. * * introduction ladies and gentlemen thank you for inviting me to speak here at the german - turkish chamber of industry and commerce in istanbul. isaac newton once observed that “ we build too many walls and not enough bridges ”. istanbul has for centuries been a bridge between two continents – asia and europe. it seems to me that istanbul is therefore an excellent place to hold this year ’ s g20 meetings. after all, the purpose of these meetings is to build bridges between nations by fostering dialogue and the mutual exchange of information. and this objective is of course also pursued by the german - turkish chamber of trade and commerce. moreover, mutual exchange is essential in a globalised world where countries are no longer isolated islands but part of a closely interconnected community. the global financial crisis has highlighted how close these connections are and how quickly a problem in one corner of the world can spread around the globe. this truth applies all the more to countries sharing a common currency such as the member states of the euro area. back in 1999, eleven european countries adopted the euro as their common currency. today, the single currency is shared by 19 countries and more than 300 million people, which in my eyes makes it a success story. that said, it has not always been plain sailing. in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008, the euro area slid into a financial crisis of its own. this was compounded in 2010 when greece entered into a sovereign debt crisis, triggering a sudden loss of confidence in other member states which eventually brought the euro area to the brink of collapse. extensive rescue packages along with non - standard measures taken by the ecb helped to calm the markets and prevented the crisis from escalating. to some commentators, the present situation is not much different. greece is again capturing the headlines. unrelated to greece, the ecb again gave the green light to nonstandard measures as a means of addressing the risks associated with too prolonged a period of low inflation. to obtain a clearer picture, let us take a tour of the euro area to see where we stand at present and where we are headed in the future. unsurprisingly, i will begin by focussing on the growth prospects of the german economy