slower sector in mexico. a significant driver of weakness in u. s. manufacturing can be found in foreign trade, in the context of a global tendency in recent years of smaller international flows of goods, extending to the united states. in particular, both u. s. manufacturing imports and exports have been shrinking, and statistical evidence suggests that reduced foreign trade is sapping vigor from the manufacturing sector in that nation. 2 a warning sign comes from forward ‐ looking indicators for u. s. manufacturing, such as those estimated as diffusion indexes based on surveys. the manufacturing pmi, see banco de mexico ( 2016 ). informe trimestral abril ‐ junio 2016, august, box 2, pp. 30 ‐ 33. calculated by the institute of supply management, recently touched contraction territory and since then has stayed close to it. against this backdrop, mexico ’ s annual gdp growth has been relatively stable during the last three years at around its long ‐ term average of 2. 3 percent, with a dip in the second quarter of 2016. this development has resulted from two opposing forces : expansion in services and a weaker industrial sector. weakness in industrial production reflects both domestic and external restrictions. on the one hand, mining has been dropping significantly, mainly due to a longstanding decline in oil extraction. this, in turn, reflects near depletion of the most profitable oil fields, as well as insufficient investment by the state ‐ run oil company, pemex, and poor results from exploration projects. on the other hand, slower manufacturing is linked to softening u. s. production, as suggested earlier. mirroring developments in the united states, mexican manufacturing exports, especially those directed to that country, are subdued at negative growth rates, largely explaining trends in manufacturing output. this has occurred in spite of substantial real peso depreciation vis ‐ a ‐ vis the u. s. dollar. although peso competitiveness has allowed mexican exports to gain some market share in the united states, this price effect has been more than offset by a negative effect associated with lower external demand for mexico ’ s goods. in contrast, services are still relatively robust, constituting the most significant engine of recent economic growth. however, expansion in the services sector has stalled lately, partly reflecting spillover from contracting foreign trade. for example, slower trends are present in both commerce and trucking, which are tightly linked to external trade. on the demand side, private consumption has continued to increase at relatively high

could be improved or delivered more rapidly, if need be. since any such assessment requires the cooperation of all stakeholders involved, i am particularly glad that each level of the lamfalussy architecture could be represented here today. indeed, the european parliament, the council and the european commission have agreed to share their assessment, in what seems to be a very promising programme for this 3 level 3 meeting. in addition, the simultaneous presence of members of cebs, ceiops and cesr gives some leverage to our discussions by enabling us to share experience that is specific to each committee but nevertheless of common interest. this exchange between committees is all the more beneficial because they have worked at a different pace in the past so there is real potential for what i could call cross - fertilisation. a full review of the lamfalussy architecture should also necessarily involve market participants. therefore, they, too, will get a chance today to voice their concerns on the architecture and share their own assessment of the process. the report of the inter - institutional monitoring group, composed of 6 independent experts, has already unveiled part of this assessment. the recently - issued report is a major contribution that provides much food for thought. today's 3 level 3 meeting will give us a chance to launch a fruitful discussion on its recommendations and will constitute a unique opportunity for each of the stakeholders to respond to it and to exchange opinions about the challenges facing the current financial supervisory architecture. link between supervision and crisis management to be complete, the assessment of the lamfalussy architecture should also take into account the special link between the supervisory framework and the crisis management framework. this link is especially important in the banking industry but it is also crucial for the insurance and securities sectors for at least two reasons. firstly, a banking crisis can potentially destabilise the whole financial sector. secondly, banking, securities and insurance businesses are in some cases combined within financial conglomerates, creating potential channels for intra - group contagion. in the present period of turbulence and uncertainty, it is very important to look closely at this link. although we may have to wait until the dust settles before we can identify all the causes and consequences of the crisis, i think we can already pinpoint some areas where level 3 committees have succeeded and where potential shortcomings have been observed. i personally believe that the trust and mutual knowledge built up over the years through regular contacts in each committee have helped foster multilateral exchanges of information and smooth cooperation between