to risk and favour decentralised decision - making ) ; innovation policies ( innovation - friendly public policies are also critical to stimulating productivity and employment ). a long - lasting improvement in the economic welfare of the portuguese people depends crucially on the maintenance of a sustainable macroeconomic framework that provides suitable incentives for economic agents and on following a reform agenda that supports long - term sustainable growth. 8. concluding remarks although my intervention focused on the portuguese situation, we should bear in mind that there 5 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches are also important challenges ahead at european level. while we should not underestimate how much has been achieved in recent years, in the aftermath of the financial crisis, we cannot ignore the fact that the foundations of europe ’ s financial architecture are still not sufficiently robust and need to be reinforced further to withstand the impact of a future crisis, to preserve financial stability and safeguard social cohesion. their strengthening should be a priority for policy - makers and relevant institutions. in the case of both portugal and the eu, we are talking about the deep institutional and structural foundations of the economy. the task is hard, and it will take time to complete and bear fruit. this means we have to start right away and be determined and tenacious, focusing on what really matters from a long - run perspective. at eu level, decisive political will to move forward with the completion of the banking union is required. in the absence of this will, europe must revisit its existing rules to safeguard financial stability. this is in the best interests of its citizens. not many things can be more destructive to public trust in european institutions than threats to financial stability. as i have already said, one of the key elements of portugal ’ s economic success through its adjustment programme was the political consensus in a time of crisis. given that today, at this conference, we are talking about lessons from the crisis, i believe that the importance of collective ownership and consensus should be highlighted both for portugal and for europe as a whole. thank you. 6 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches

what extent? the first step for a unified european strategy is acknowledging its need. in the face of nonnegligible risks to financial stability and financial integration, as well as the referred heterogeneity across banks and economies, a debate should be launched on the possible mismatch between the repercussions of high npl levels and the current strictness of the eu legal and regulatory framework. in particular, the brrd was designed for a steady - state, which is still far from the current situation in financial markets, and state aid rules, while placing financial stability at the core, seem to provide little flexibility to address the systemic nature of the problem. to reduce npls in a significant and swift way, these constraints must be addressed – but only a european approach can do so while ensuring the necessary level playing field, an essential precondition for the coordinated action that should follow. this discussion – ideally complemented by enhanced flexibility – would provide decisive clarity on the rules of the game and likely pave the way for bolder solutions at national level, especially in 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches countries where the npl challenge is more pressing. it could also be the starting point for considering and conceiving a more ambitious strategy to effectively reduce npl stocks across europe. a strategy with the necessary firepower to enhance national efforts and complement ongoing initiatives in the ssm and other european fora. some promising european approaches have been recently put forward and deserve to be further explored. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches