the unstable equilibria on the other hand, which should not be accepted. second, the notion of resilience to shocks, taking into account the fact that whatever the level of sustainability of a particular financial situation, we can never eliminate the occurrence of unpredictable shocks. these shocks can come not only from the economic and financial sphere – the present stress test is a very powerful example – but also from the geopolitical sphere, or they can be triggered by natural catastrophes. resilience is therefore essential ; it is a necessary complement to sustainability. the third notion is holism : the present global financial system depends on the appropriate handling of a very large number of factors : prudential practices, accounting rules, audit quality, liquidity management, risk management and credit assessment, to mention but a few. this holistic approach must also comprehend a fundamental factor, namely the long - term sustainability and resilience of public macro policies – whether in particular fiscal or structural – and the associated progressive but resolute elimination of those large domestic and external imbalances that are one of the major causes of global economic and financial instability. such a paradigm change, including the three notions of medium and long - term sustainability, resilience and a holistic approach of the global financial system, is now absolutely essential to correct the fragility of the market economy which we are presently experiencing. thank you for your attention.

the european commission ). but we are also a central bank and, as of 2014, a banking supervisor. these specific tasks require a dedicated governance framework considered so crucial by the eu legislators that it was laid down in the eu treaty and, as regards banking supervision, in the regulation establishing the single supervisory mechanism ( ssm ). in my remarks i will cover each aspect of the report briefly. independence in the european union, the principle of central bank independence has a quasi - constitutional basis. article 108 of the treaty establishing the european community states that : “ neither the 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches ecb, nor a national central bank … shall seek or take instructions from community institutions or bodies, from any government of a member state or from any other body ”. looking at the debate around independence, which is also taking place outside the eu, it becomes clear that safeguarding our independence requires more than a series of legal provisions. it requires an explanation of why independence is important for a central bank. as guardians of price stability in the euro area, the ecb creates the foundation for a healthy and stable european economy. independence is essential in that respect, as it protects the ecb from any temptation by governments to seek changes in monetary policy to favour short - term economic gains over price stability, or to pander to private interest groups. it is equally important to correct misperceptions, and all stakeholders do have a responsibility in this respect. the ecb communicates clear conditions for accepting credit institutions as counterparts, for quality of collateral, for emergency liquidity assistance extended by national central banks so as not to interfere with monetary policy, for accepting securities under its asset purchase programme, etc. these conditions are transparent and equal for all counterparties in the euro area. therefore, the ecb does not aim for political buy in, it merely clarifies the conditions which govern its monetary policy for all euro area countries, and this is needed to ensure that it stays within its mandate and, thus, to safeguard its independence. as for the ecb ’ s current role in the macroeconomic adjustment programmes, this is enshrined in a legal framework4 that is not for the ecb to alter. we believe that financial issues are where the ecb ’ s advice is of particular relevance. if there were political willingness to change the framework, we would be happy to engage and, based on our experience, help clarify how best to support the other institutions while safeguarding our independence