the most competitive firms, aggregate labour productivity can increase substantially. some studies indicate a gain of as much as 20 – 30 %. the current focus on competitiveness in france, leading towards an institutional and fiscal set - up that can support firms ’ investment and innovation, is therefore a welcome step in the right direction. it would be particularly welcome if this improved in particular the functioning of labour market for young people, so that they can find a job. for the euro area, too, increased labour mobility across borders is crucial. we should see that the current institutional arrangements of the welfare state do not stand in the way of such mobility. the portability of entitlements across borders is a crucial pre - condition for such mobility and should be fostered. bis central bankers ’ speeches competitiveness and market integration another important aspect is the growth and competitiveness - enhancing potential of further market integration in europe. one example is a very recent study, which finds that applying the eu patent would raise the gains for european firms from patenting inventions by 60 %. furthermore, if all countries also adopted best practices, those gains would more than double. i quote this example to show that improving competitiveness in europe does not imply a race between euro area countries, but rather the exploitation of their comparative advantages in the single market and a global economy that offer far greater growth possibilities than each economy on its own. improving competitiveness by setting the conditions for boosting productivity is not about ranking : it is about raising the bar for each country to enhance its potential and use it. the policy challenge let me now conclude. we at the ecb have responsibility to maintain price stability. as part of this mandate, we acted to remove unfounded doubts about the irreversibility of the euro. this is a necessary condition for price stability and will help restore the stability and prosperity of the euro area. but it is not a sufficient condition : it is the responsibility of individual governments to adopt policies that ensure the full responsiveness of wages and prices, facilitating the efficient use of our large potential resources, thus revitalising growth. euro area governments have made significant progress, but their work is not yet complete. what i see in france, and in many other parts of europe, is a consensus that the erosion of competitiveness has to be reversed. this is meaningful. what i also see in france, and in many other parts of europe, is a growing debate on the best possible functioning of product and labour markets. this

competitiveness is a key policy concern. indeed, it is a key concern in every country of the euro area. and it is of fundamental importance to the euro area as a whole. europe ’ s future prosperity requires member countries to be competitive individually in order to be competitive jointly and thrive in an open, global economy. bis central bankers ’ speeches external and internal competitiveness of the euro area let me begin by defining a competitive economy. in essence, it is one in which institutional and macroeconomic conditions allow productive firms to thrive. in turn, the development of these firms supports the expansion of employment, investment and trade. prices, costs and wages are important factors for firms to develop and maintain shares of the global market. but there are other factors that have become increasingly important in the past decade, especially for advanced economies. as low - cost competitors have emerged elsewhere in the world, specialisation in high - value products and innovative technologies, which are our comparative advantages at a global level, has become vital. these are two areas in which the euro area performs well, exporting mid - tech and high - tech products to a wide range of advanced and emerging markets. reflecting the increased importance of emerging economies in the past decade, all major advanced economies have lost export market shares. but compared with the united states and japan, the euro area has held up relatively well, largely by adjusting the range of products in which it specialises. since the launch of the euro, the concentration of exports in high - tech and research - intensive products has increased faster than in other sectors. this has been one factor explaining why the current account of the euro area as a whole has never deviated much from balance. since the time the euro was launched, all the other main economic areas have either run large surpluses or large persistent deficits. china, for example, has run a surplus of up to 10 % of gdp, while the us deficit has reached up to 6 % of gdp. but the balanced position for the euro area as a whole masks quite different positions among countries. the pattern of global imbalances, of large deficits and large surpluses, repeats itself within the euro area. for example, just before the crisis, some countries were running deficits close to 15 %, while others posted surpluses close to 7 %. moreover, the relatively resilient export performance of the euro area hides very uneven experiences at the country level. for example, german and spanish exports have held up very well