nature that it should be possible to convince people of the reform steps necessary to reach them. at the same time, one should not - and cannot - conceal that some of the reforms necessary on the way are painful or unpleasant, and affect various groups of societies in different ways. in such cases of strong conflicts of interest it is all the more important to enter into an active, constructive dialogue and to jointly find acceptable, fair solutions, since, in the long run, no government can afford to ignore public opinion. i think that some of the official documents prepared ahead of the forthcoming european council already touch on the course i have just outlined, but to my feeling not sufficiently. let me conclude by quoting from robert schuman ’ s legendary declaration of may 9, 1950 : “ europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. it will be built through concrete achievements. ” i think that this statement is as true today as it was more than half a century ago. it will become even more relevant in an enlarged european union of 25 member states. while european leadership is becoming ever more important, the european union can function well only if individual players perform their roles responsibly. this applies both to the division of labour between monetary, fiscal and structural policies and to the division of responsibilities between the eu and national governments. sound fiscal policies and a rapid implementation of the lisbon agenda are both areas where individual member states have a pivotal role to play. now it is time to act.

glenford ysaguirre : from the global financial crisis to more robust regulatory frameworks and resilient financial systems feature address by mr glenford ysaguirre, governor of the central bank of belize, at the caribbean group of banking supervisors xxix annual conference, san pedro town, 16 june 2011. * * * a pleasant good morning to mr. cleviston haynes – cgbs chair ; representatives from the association of supervisors of banks of the americas ( asba ), the office of the supervisor of the currency ( occ ), the us department of the treasury, the federal deposit insurance corporation ( fdic ) ; members of cgbs ; participants of this, the twenty - ninth annual cgbs conference. ladies and gentlemen, let me join my staff in welcoming you to belize and to the, warm, friendly and scenic location of san pedro, ambergris caye. it is indeed my pleasure to have this opportunity to address this gathering today. i understand that you have a very heavy agenda so my intent is to be very brief and not to stray from the script as is often my wont. as leading entities charged with the supervision of the financial sector, we all carry an enormous responsibility and one that ought not to be taken lightly. today, i see the work of the cgbs as one of the few shining examples of a regional institution that does not seem to be afflicted with that, oh so common and familiar malady i call the caricom malaise. this is that common condition where we meet a lot, talk a lot, agree on a lot, debate a lot, and then we resolve not to do a damn lot. let me give you an example : take our attempt to get members to adopt a single draft model banking act across the region. while unanimously agreed to almost six years ago, it languishes in suspension as formal acceptance by a few jurisdictions is as yet forthcoming with no explanations for the protraction. but, my purpose here today is not to dwell on the negative, but rather to plant an idea whose time i think has come. i hope it will pique your interest sufficiently for you to forgive my departure from the normal feature address format. the theme for today ’ s conference is very fitting and timely : “ from the global financial crisis to more robust regulatory frameworks and resilient financial systems ” i like this theme because it is forward looking and is in perfect consonance