past labour market reforms have contributed to job creation and reduced unemployment. it is important that governments continue in this direction and do not reverse past reforms just at the point when they are starting to bear fruit. moreover, the governing council reiterates its full support for all efforts which foster market flexibility and enhance competition. this also applies to the agricultural markets. against the background of a marked increase in international food commodity prices, further liberalisation and reforms in eu agricultural markets would help to enhance their efficiency and benefit european consumers through lower prices. we are now at your disposal for questions.

governance issues that are of concern to those who would like to safeguard the independence of the ecb in monetary policy, and keep some degree of separation between the prudential and monetary policy function. if responsibility for prudential supervision were to be entrusted to a body other than the ecb, a change in the treaty would be needed, and this might take years, as we all know. in the light of the current financial crisis, it would be irresponsible to wait for a treaty change via the normal revision procedures to achieve a stronger supervisory framework if the same result could be achieved without it. second, bringing prudential supervision under the roof the escb would ensure that the information - related synergies between central banking and supervision are exploited to the maximum extent. third, it would ensure that supervision is put in the hands of an institution, which has a proven track record, has relevant technical expertise in the house, and has an independent status. the latter point should not be underestimated. fourth, the current crisis has shown the need to strengthen macro - prudential supervision, which concentrates on the systemic components of financial markets. it was the lack of a comprehensive perspective which led to the contagious nature of the crisis being underestimated, even in countries where financial institutions were thought to be sound. macro - prudential supervision can obviously not be conducted at national level, certainly not within the euro area. it has to be conducted at a level close to the central bank, where analyses of monetary and financial developments are undertaken. this is consistent with the recommendations made by the fsf and other bodies in response to the current crisis. it has been suggested also by various members of the european parliament. furthermore, it is in line with the proposal in the us to assign macro - prudential responsibilities to the federal reserve. the ecb has in fact laid the necessary basis for taking on such a task, notably through the preparation of its financial stability reports. yet it is clear that the warnings contained in these reports were not heeded by the relevant authorities. this shows the authority for macro - prudential supervision should be equipped with the necessary powers. the macro - prudential supervisory tasks to be assigned to the ecb should include : the development of early warning systems about the emergence of risks and vulnerabilities in the financial system ; the conduct of macro - stress testing exercises aiming at verifying the degree of resilience of the financial