twenty years now since the single market was established. and while the single market has brought us enormous benefits and created new opportunities, we have to acknowledge that a truly integrated european market is still lacking in some important fields, including services and energy. legislation is missing and, more importantly, administrative obstacles and lacking enforcement leave the full potential of the single market unexploited. the european single market is the largest in the world by value. the commitment and actions put forward by the european commission in order to exploit the untapped potential of the single market are thus very much welcome and encouraging. ( iii ) the eu external dimension while it is crucial to complete and deepen the european single market, europe must not leave the growth potential from external trade unexploited. the current crisis is unfolding against a background of population ageing. this is a long - term trend that cannot be rapidly or easily inverted, and which puts significant underlying pressure on europe ’ s growth potential and public finances. in contrast, other areas of the world are catching up with the advanced economies and offer a handful of opportunities to european businesses. deepening europe ’ s economic ties with the most dynamic areas in the world in a context of strict reciprocity should thus be a clear priority in the european growth strategy. 5. concluding remarks let me conclude with a word of confidence in the future. europe has experienced difficult crisis before. these crises have been a catalyst for deepening and strengthening the european project. while i ’ ve tried not to downplay the seriousness of the situation and the magnitude of the challenges we face, i believe that a stronger and fitter european union will emerge from the current crisis. the crisis has shown the urgent need for enhanced international cooperation and coordination, better economic governance, strengthened market supervision and increased discipline and transparency. much progress has been made in this direction. however, neither of this will endure without sustainable and equitable economic growth and job creation. in other words, we need to ensure the eu is a positive - sum game and that the cross - country distribution of gains is well - balanced. we cannot miss this unique opportunity to introduce fundamental changes and deep - rooted structural reforms, to complete the single market and to strengthen europe ’ s international bis central bankers ’ speeches role. the eu would hardly survive a failure of the euro and this would not only be a european but rather a global problem with profound geopolitical consequences. we have a huge responsibility towards present and future generations.

banks are now more capitalised, more transparent and less leveraged than a year ago. monitoring and supervision were significantly enhanced and the regulatory environment has considerably improved. this being said, the challenge remains huge and there is no room for complacency. combining mounting capital needs with deleveraging requirements, while at the same time preventing a harmful credit contraction in the economy is not an easy task. it is a task that requires a fine balance between ‘ science and art ’ in policy - making. in the fiscal / structural domain, an important step has been taken with the setting up of an independent entity ( the public finances council ) responsible for assessing : ( i ) the consistency of macroeconomic and budgetary scenarios ; ( ii ) the compliance with budgetary rules ; ( iii ) the path of public finances and their long run sustainability. ii strengthening of the preventive arm of the pact – member states are required to make significant progress towards their medium - term budgetary objectives ( mto ) ; introduction of expenditure benchmarks ; interest - bearing deposit of 0. 2 % of gdp imposed on non - compliant euro - area countries ) ; strengthening of the corrective arm of the pact – an edp can now also result from government debt developments ; member states with debt ratios above 60 % of gdp should reduce their debt in line with a numerical benchmark ; progressive financial sanctions at an earlier stage of the edp, etc. ) ; minimum requirements for national budgetary frameworks – need to comply with minimum standards and cover all levels of government ; multiannual budgetary planning ; numerical fiscal rules ; preventing and correcting macroeconomic and competitiveness imbalances – introduction of a new excessive imbalance procedure ( eip ). bis central bankers ’ speeches