could build on this taxonomy. yet another measure i would bring forward to promote the capital markets union concerns activating retail investors, that is, smes and households. currently, their participation in capital markets is lower than in the united states. it is restrained by a wide range of barriers. offering different investment products to retail investors could be made easier. retail investment regulation could be harmonised and simplified. overlaps and inconsistencies across member states could be removed. finally, regarding the capital markets union, would it be useful to change the narrative attached to it? perhaps the project would benefit from a new concept. ” growth and investment union ”, for instance, might provide a more positive perspective for the project. ladies & gentlemen, to sum up, we have major challenges to make the economic and monetary union both more resilient and better able to deliver sustained growth and full employment. that is indeed our common challenge, so let ’ s focus today on these challenges that really matter to our citizens – which is the only valid yardstick when considering our policy choices. looking forward to the discussion and many thanks for your attention! 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

olli rehn : next steps towards a stronger monetary union speech by mr olli rehn, governor of the bank of finland, in the inter - parliamentary conference on “ stability, economic coordination and governance in the eu ”, session “ economic governance in the emu : what next? ”, helsinki, 30 september 2019. * * * accompanying slides of the speech. rt. hon. members of parliament, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to discuss these most relevant topics of emu reform with a most knowledgeable audience, among old and new friends. since 2013, economic growth has continued in the euro area, and the unemployment rate has been on a downward trend. this is most welcome. however, we have major challenges of the short term and longer term now. the first ones relate to the current economic downturn, the latter to the unfinished business of the economic and monetary union. let me discuss these challenges one after another. 1. for some time by now, the world economy has been going through a downswing led by the deceleration in world trade and industrial production. that ’ s why the governing council of the european central bank decided two weeks ago on a monetary policy package that consists of mutually reinforcing elements. it aims to ensure that financial conditions remain favourable to firms and households, so that they support sustained growth and the sustained convergence of inflation to our medium - term inflation aim. however, as rightly pointed out by president mario draghi, these substantial monetary policy measures are leveraged best when also the other economic policy areas support euro area growth. monetary policy cannot be the only active player in the field. in recent years, especially as the low interest rate environment and the effective lower bound have been constraining monetary policy, more and more attention has been put on fiscal policy and its capacity to help revitalise the economies that are suffering from subdued growth that is clearly below potential. it is evident that the role of fiscal policy is stronger when the effective lower bound is binding. this calls for a better balanced policy mix in the eurozone than is the case today. policy mix does matter for both the short - term and longer - term. even though cyclical fluctuations refer to temporary movements, their effects may persist for a long time. for instance, a cyclical rise in unemployment may have long - lasting effects, especially if the labour market institutions do not support the unemployed in regaining work. while an effective, coordinated use of fiscal and monetary