welcome speech to the members of the supervisory board ( sb ) of the single supervisory mechanism ( ssm ) and their spouses, on the occasion of the sb meeting in the bank of greece 12 may 2022, by yannis stournaras it ’ s a great pleasure to welcome you here tonight on the shores of piraeus, just a few miles from the straits of salamis, where some 2, 500 years ago, in 480 bc, a greek fleet defeated the much larger naval force of the persians, in what is considered to be one of the most decisive naval battles in history. nevertheless, its usual portrayal, as a clash between east and west, overshadows some of the finer details, notably the bitter conflict and dissent between the allied greek city - states, right up to the eve of the battle. it was only in the face of an existential threat, in the form of king xerxes ’ s formidable fleet, that divergent interests gave way before a common objective, but only briefly. briefly, because not long after the spectacular greek victory in salamis, democratic athens and oligarchic sparta locked horns in the deadly peloponnesian war, which lasted from 431 bc to 404 bc, devastated athens and marked the dramatic end to the 5th century bc and the golden age of ancient greece. the pattern should be familiar. all of us are proud of the speed and coordination with which the eurozone responded to the recent pandemic, not least because it was perceived as a symmetric, external shock. few of us would be proud of the way the fallout from the great financial crisis was addressed in the eurozone, not least since its impact was asymmetric and conditioned by internal factors. and most of us would admit that – once the urgency of each crisis subsides – momentum is lost and much needed reforms get bogged down by divergent national priorities. despite formidable progress, key aspects of our banking union remain in limbo ; without them, there is little prospect of making headway towards greater integration in the eurozone. none of this is new. the generals meeting on salamis to debate strategy on the eve of the battle would probably feel quite at home in some of the meetings in brussels or frankfurt – although they would probably complain about the weather! after all, european integration began in common defence against a perceived existential threat, during the cold war. ever since, it has been propelled forward in response to

and medium - sized enterprises and start - ups ; the european venture capital fund and european social entrepreneurship fund regulations, aimed to facilitate investment in innovative companies ; and the revision of the prospectus directive with a view to facilitating the access of small and medium - sized enterprises ’ to capital markets. the five remaining proposals are still being negotiated. meanwhile, during the past two weeks, the european commission released five new proposals on : an action plan on how to harness the opportunities presented by technology - enabled innovation in financial services ( fintech ) and crowdfunding ; an action plan on sustainable finance for a greener and cleaner economy ; common rules on covered bonds as a stable and cost - effective source of funding for credit institutions, especially where markets are less developed, which would translate into lower borrowing costs for the economy at large ; a proposed directive aimed to reduce barriers to cross - border distribution of investment funds, making it simpler, faster and less costly ; and the clarification of the law applicable to crossborder transactions in claims and securities, promoting cross - border investment. once finalised and implemented, this legislative package can be expected to remove barriers to the geographical diversification of investor portfolios, which reduce market liquidity and hamper business expansion. private investors in the eu usually keep their funds in bank deposits with short - term maturities. moreover, institutional investors, in particular insurance undertakings and pension funds, with traditionally long investment horizons, have reduced their equity investment to 5 - 10 % of their total portfolios. the capital markets union, by facilitating access to attractive investment on competitive and transparent terms, is expected to encourage such investors to invest in equity instruments within the eu. this will help tackle the challenges that population ageing and low interest rates pose to the viability of social security funds, while at the same time opening up financing opportunities for businesses. overall, however, as bank credit and the recourse to alternative financing sources are not expected – at least in the short term – to increase enough to bring about the quantum leap in business investment needed for sustainable growth, an aggressive policy for attracting strategic foreign direct investment is necessary. this need becomes all the more pressing considering that the saving - to - gdp ratio of the domestic private sector dropped dramatically during the crisis, from 15. 3 % of gdp in 2007 to 3. 8 % in the first three quarters of 2017. if the country is to attract foreign direct investment, priority must be given to eliminating major counterincentives, such