avenue. combined with a carefully designed framework of targeted and temporary financial support, they should contribute to fostering structural reforms and thereby strengthening competitiveness. ideally, the reform contracts should focus on countries with the largest competitiveness challenges. they should identify the structural bottlenecks to improving competitiveness and target the reforms in a way that will remove those bottlenecks. this would establish a clear link between reforms and restoring competitiveness, which is essential for growth and job creation. smooth functioning of product and labour markets is a prerequisite for growth and job creation in emu. i therefore welcome the announcement that next year the european commission will undertake a systematic review of product and labour markets. for euro area countries the review should allow to assess whether these markets are fully compatible with participation in emu. here, product and labour markets must provide for enhanced adjustment capacity to adapt to a changing global economic environment and ensure sustained high levels of employment. the second priority for 2013 from the ecb ’ s perspective is the completion of financial union with the establishment of a single resolution mechanism. the aim of resolution is to deal with non - viable banks through measures that include their orderly winding down and closure while preserving financial stability. such a mechanism will make it possible for banks to fail in an orderly manner. improving economic union by restoring competitiveness and the functioning of product and labour markets on the one hand, and setting up a single resolution framework on the other hand are key priorities for 2013. this committee has always pushed for ambitious european solutions in the field of financial and economic governance. i am confident that you will again play an instrumental role in moving the agenda forward and adopting the relevant legislative proposals. thank you for your attention. i am now at your disposal for questions. bis central bankers ’ speeches

this implies that central banks revisit the central bank money services they provide with the objective of adapting them to the digital age. this is necessary for the services provided in the wholesale sphere, for the settlement of transactions between financial intermediaries, which are the most important from a systemic risk perspective. today, central bank money is the very dominant settlement asset in that space because it is the safest and most liquid settlement asset on supply. it is essential that tomorrow it remains so, in particular if tokenized finance takes off. these attributes of central bank money cannot be matched by stablecoins or commercial bank money. 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches hence our strong and early involvement at the banque de france in a large - scale experimentation program on wholesale cbdc with a number of market participants ; and the announcement by the ecb a few days ago that the eurosystem will explore potential solutions for central bank money settlement of wholesale financial transactions recorded on dlt platforms. adapting our central bank money services might also be necessary in the retail space. hence the in depth investigations led by the ecb with the ncbs of the eurosystem. a digital euro would contribute to the anchoring role of central bank money by offering to the general public cbm in a form that would be complementary to banknotes and adapted to the growing demand of the public for digital payments. in addition, a digital euro would contribute to strengthening our strategic autonomy. to conclude, let me just stress that it is not clear to me what is going to be the destiny of digital finance and the shape that the financial landscape will eventually take as a result, in the medium run. market forces will decide. but what is clear to me is the role we, as a central bank, should play, which is to make sure that the shape evolves in a confidence prone regulatory and operational framework, which implies that we play an active role to help build that framework on both aspects, in line with our mandate. 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches