lorenzo bini smaghi : the economic governance of the european union in the light of the treaty of lisbon – harmonisation or competition between countries? speech by mr lorenzo bini smaghi, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the conference on ” the european central bank : a new actor on the international scene ”, milan, 24 january 2008. * * * introduction 1 it is a great pleasure for me to speak at this conference, which gives us the opportunity to take stock – some ten years since the start of the economic and monetary union – of the institutional framework for the governance of the european economy. the book entitled “ the law of the european central bank ” by chiara zilioli and martin selmayr, which looks at the legal framework of the european central bank, is a good place to start. ten years on, it is possible to question whether this framework is still valid. i should specifically like to focus on an area of particular interest, especially in the light of recent events. the new treaty of lisbon, which was signed by the heads of state or government and the finance ministers of the 27 european union member states last december, did not make any substantial changes to the governance structure of the european economy. there continues to be a contrast between a fully - integrated monetary system, with a single monetary policy decided by the european central bank, and a financial market that is only partially integrated, since regulatory and supervisory policies are implemented at national level. this issue, which is quite complex, has been studied by various commentators, academics and officials. 2 the question is whether the current institutional framework is adequate given the accelerating process of market integration and the market turmoil experienced in recent months, or whether it should instead be strengthened in order to ensure an effective regulation of the markets. i intend to address these issues mainly from an economic perspective, leaving to the legal experts the task of outlining their legal - institutional vision in this regard. 1. the new treaty : innovation and continuity i do not intend to discuss either the controversy or the difficulties encountered during the process of revising the treaty, which took seven years : from the presidency conclusions of the nice european council at the end of 2000, through the draft european constitution outlined in 2004 and the negative referenda on the constitution in france and the netherlands in 2005, to the signing of the treaty of lisbon in december 2008. i should only like to point out that, despite the discussions which took place in various quarters

monetary board including dr. vicente valdepenas, jr. ; atty. raul boncan, sr. ; mrs. juanita amatong ; atty. nelly favis - villafuerte ; mr. alfredo antonio ; and socio - economic planning secretary romy neri. let us also acknowledge our three hardworking deputy governors, in alphabetical order – nesting espenilla, diwa guinigundo and andy suratos ; assistant governors jun de zuniga, vic aquino, dolly yuvienco, eve avila, tessie hatta ; and finally, all the other officers and staff of the bangko sentral ng pilipinas! you all make me proud to be a central banker! marami pong salamat sa inyong lahat! mabuhay ang bangko sentral ng pilipinas!