. this should be done in parallel with pertinent measures to further the liberalisation of goods and services markets, the current regulation of which involves in some cases a diminished level of competition. one key area for progress along these lines is liberalisation in the services sector, as it encompasses some of the most dynamic activities and some of those with most job - creating capacity. likewise needed is further headway in liberalisation and competition in the network industries, so that the conditions in which inputs are supplied to other productive activities allow spanish companies to compete on an equal footing with our trading partners. and let us not forget the housing market. further improvements to rental regulations are needed to make this option more flexible and profitable, so that the purchase of housing for investment purposes is encouraged, thus helping reduce the supply overhang, and broadening the possibilities of meeting the population's demand for residential services. finally, i must reiterate that the soundness of the financial system is essential for ensuring the financing flows needed to restore economic dynamism. while the spanish financial system has shown notable resilience to the direct and indirect effects of the international financial crisis, the intensity of the adjustment the spanish economy is undergoing against a background of protracted financial tension adds further factors of pressure in terms of asset impairment, an increase in bad debts and a narrowing of bank margins. faced with these risk factors, not all banks are equally prepared, whereby the availability of appropriate mechanisms, such as those offered by the frob ( the fund for the orderly restructuring of banks ), will help banks face the restructuring necessary with the best results for the functioning of the economy and the least cost to taxpayers. however, i must say that, if reforms are not adopted promptly, high unemployment might be prolonged, which would contribute to increasing financial institutions'difficulties and would prevent the soundness of the financial system from acting, as it has to date, as an essential pillar of economic growth in spain. allow me to conclude by stressing that the spanish economy is at a decisive crossroads. if far - reaching reforms are not promptly adopted, we face the prospect of slow recovery with high levels of unemployment and public spending. conversely, if the right – although not easy – decisions are promptly taken, we will be able to resume a path of high growth based on a more productive and sustainable pattern. to achieve this it is vital to apply medium - term stability strategies and ambitious structural reforms, which should be well co - ordinated and credible

a mechanism to continue to enjoy the benefits of globalisation but on a smaller scale. as an illustration, in 2022, 44 % of global companies were developing regionalised supply networks ( up from only 25 % in 2021 ). evidently, some of the above - mentioned trends may well imply a further slowdown of the globalisation process beyond that observed in recent years, or even result in deglobalisation pressures. the eu response in response to these challenges, the eu has recently been launching a series of policies within the so - called open strategic autonomy agenda : an emerging set of regulatory, structural and fiscal policies that seek to address the eu ’ s economic vulnerabilities arising from geopolitical considerations. under the framework of open strategic autonomy, three types of policies have been proposed to reduce the eu's vulnerabilities. a first set of measures aims to assess supply chain dependencies and vulnerabilities and increase the resilience of the european industrial system. specific examples are the action plan on critical raw materials - aimed at reducing the eu's external dependence in the sourcing of such goods -, the " repowereu " initiative - aimed at reducing the eu's energy dependence -, and plans to drive the digitalisation of european economies. a second set of measures aims to protect eu countries from possible abusive practices adopted by third economies - practices that may be related to strategic or political objectives. these measures include those aimed at monitoring foreign direct investment flows from third countries and other measures designed to limit coercive actions against european companies. a third class of measures aims to preserve the international level playing field by compensating for competitive disadvantages that eu companies might face due to less stringent environmental and state aid policies implemented by third countries. examples are the regulation on foreign subsidies that distort the internal market and the carbon border adjustment mechanism ( cbam ). other countries have started to include geopolitical considerations in their economic policy decisions as well. foremost among these is the recent move by the us to restrict exports of semiconductors and advanced chip - making manufacturing equipment to china, and the adoption of the inflation reduction act, which provides tax credits to clean energy and electric car producers conditional on assembly and production in north america. in the particular case of the eu, and with a view to at least partially offsetting the costs of deglobalisation and to ensure a more robust and resilient eu economy, in my view strategic autonomy