benefits. as far as the supervisory framework is concerned, in order to realise the economies of scale and scope offered by financial integration, the framework should facilitate the development of cross - border consolidation of financial institutions and the cross - border exchange of services and products, while maintaining the effectiveness of supervisory standards and action in a more integrated financial system. it is our view that the current institutional set - up, and in particular the lamfalussy framework, provides the appropriate structure for achieving these broad policy objectives, if it is used to the maximum extent possible. to this end, the work of the level 3 committees, i. e. the committee of european banking supervisors ( cebs ), the committee of european insurance and occupational pensions supervisors ( ceiops ) and the committee of european securities regulators ( cesr ), is expected to strongly promote supervisory convergence and cooperation. furthermore, in a more and more integrated financial system, increased supervisory cooperation across financial sectors is required. in this respect, the level 3 committees recently signed a joint protocol that aims to foster cooperation and coordination on tasks of common interest. 12 overall, the review of the lamfalussy approach that is due by the end of 2007 will provide an opportunity to form a comprehensive judgement about the progress made. * * * in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you how i appreciate today ’ s symposium on finance, banking and insurance. as i have pointed out, financial integration is at the heart of the european construction and the ecb and the eurosystem are strongly attached to foster this historical process of financial integration through all the means that are in our domain of responsibility. equally we trust that research in this field is of extreme importance. we must understand better the very complex transformations that are at stake. and that is the reason why our permanent dialogue with the academic world is for me of fundamental importance. 11 see at http : / / www. ecb. int / pub / pdf / other / ecgreenpaperfinancialservicespolicy2005en. pdf, dated 1 august 2005. 12 see “ banking, insurance and securities supervisors enhance eu - wide cooperation ”, press release dated 24 november 2005, at www. c - ebs. org, www. ceiops. org, www. cesr - eu. org.

jean - claude trichet : european financial integration speech by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, at the 10th symposium on finance, banking, and insurance, university of karlsruhe, karlsruhe, 16 december 2005. * 1. * * introduction ladies and gentlemen, i am very pleased to speak to you today on the occasion of the 10th symposium on finance, banking, and insurance. i would like to congratulate the organisers for arranging this internationally esteemed conference at the university of karlsruhe. karlsruhe, the former residence of the dukes of baden, is not only beautifully located between the rhine and the black forest, it is also situated right in the middle of europe. and europe is at the heart of the topic that i will discuss in my speech today. this symposium traditionally aims to strengthen the links between theory and practice, addressing the latest developments in a wide range of finance issues. this is the second factor underlying my choice of topic. today, i will talk about european financial integration. this subject is of interest to market participants, policy - makers and academics alike, and is of the utmost interest to the european central bank ( ecb ). in fact, the governing council of the ecb has formulated the mission of the eurosystem ( comprising the ecb and the euro area national central banks ) as follows : “ we in the eurosystem have as our primary objective the maintenance of price stability for the common good. acting also as a leading financial authority, we aim to safeguard financial stability and promote european financial integration. ” 1 i will structure my remarks as follows. first, i will explain the link between financial integration and monetary policy and financial stability. i will then present the current state of financial integration in the euro area based on the indicators of financial integration recently published by the ecb. finally, i will mention some specific activities by which the eurosystem contributes to fostering financial integration, and i will highlight some topical eu policy issues in the field of european financial integration. 2. the link between financial integration and monetary policy and financial stability in accordance with the tasks referred to in the eurosystem ’ s mission statement, i will first discuss the link between financial integration and monetary policy, before addressing the relationship between financial integration and financial stability. in line with good academic practice, i will start with a definition. the ecb defines financial integration as follows : we consider the market for a given set of financial instruments or services to be fully integrated when