these matters, both national parliaments and the european parliament already bear an important responsibility. national parliaments adopt the national government budget and structural reforms. at the same time, the european parliament, as co - legislator, has a key role in the design of an effective and efficient eu governance framework. it needs to consider the cross - border spillovers from national policies, as well as the impact of european policies at national level. the european parliamentary week can play a very useful role here as it allows us to learn from each other ’ s experiences. in fact, there has been no lack of successful reforms in different policy fields across eu countries. let me take a concrete example. in the area of financial services, the completion of the banking union is essential for improving the functioning of emu. looking back at what we have achieved since the crisis, the result is quite impressive. european banking supervision, which marked its fifth anniversary last year, has brought a more uniform approach to how banks are supervised. we have also created a new eu resolution framework, which ensures that banks can fail in an orderly manner and that the cost of bank failures is shifted away from governments and onto the financial sector. thanks to these achievements, the banking union is helping to make european banks safer and sounder and more able to support the european economy. we have made good progress, but we are not done yet. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches on the one hand, we need to complete the banking union by operationalising the common backstop to the single resolution fund and advancing political discussions on banking union ’ s missing third pillar : a european deposit insurance scheme. to complete the banking union reform agenda substantial risk reduction has already been achieved and the process is ongoing and should continue. but further progress also depends on having a more harmonised regulatory framework. this entails, among other things, undertaking a serious effort to harmonise options and national discretions ( onds ), some of which lie in the hands of national legislators, limiting opportunities for regulatory arbitrage, and ensuring a level playing field at european level. this can only be achieved through european legislation and common institutions, which bring national competent authorities closer together. conclusions in conclusion, allow me to use a metaphor. national and european parliaments should be like two runners in a relay race. they are both essential in passing on the baton of legitimacy : in other words, they should cooperate as one team to ensure the legitimacy of the greater sharing of sovereignty that underpins

luis de guindos : euro at 20 years - the road ahead address by mr luis de guindos, vice - president of the european central bank, at the european parliamentary week, brussels, 19 february 2019. * * * i would first like to thank the european parliament and the parliament of romania for this opportunity to reflect together on the first 20 years of the euro and discuss the road ahead. the euro ’ s first two decades saw the outbreak of the great financial crisis, which caused a permanent loss in output in all major economic regions around the globe, and of the sovereign debt crisis in the euro area, which posed an existential threat to the single currency. steady advances in convergence and financial integration in the euro area had been made before these crises. however, as a result of the incompleteness of economic and monetary union the impact of these shocks reversed some of the progress made towards integration, just when they were most needed. thanks to a collective effort by european citizens and their leaders, the existential threat to the euro has been overcome. several euro area countries have gone through a substantial adjustment phase, macroeconomic imbalances have been unwound, and price competitiveness has improved. we have seen an impressive correction in current account deficits and fiscal deficits have declined. also thanks to the support of the ecb ’ s monetary policy measures, the euro area has been on a broad - based recovery path, which has been reflected in improved labour market conditions and job creation. monetary union is now more resilient to shocks thanks to the economic expansion, a reduction in imbalances, as well as the significant institutional reforms that have been adopted in the post - crisis period. nevertheless, there is more work to be done : the journey ahead to complete the economic and monetary union ( emu ) is challenging. this forum allows me to discuss the important role played by parliaments on that journey. parliaments already have a significant role to play in the governance of the euro area. and i believe that we can further build on their contribution to improve the functioning of economic and monetary union. rather than focusing on what we need for a better functioning of emu, i will stress today why and how parliamentary involvement can enhance the legitimacy of economic decisions at national and european level and make them more consistent with participation in a single currency. answering eu citizens ’ legitimacy concerns our union is founded on the value of democracy. and, following the tradition of liberal democracies, it is