the jobs created over the past few years can be partly attributed to the success of ecb policies. however, while a stability - oriented monetary policy is a necessary condition for sustainable growth, it is not enough on its own. many of the remaining regional disparities reflect factors other than monetary policy. for example, my next slide shows that despite favourable financing conditions, in recent years growth and job creation here in centre - val de loire have been lagging behind developments in many other euro area regions. you can see this on my next slide. to some extent, the gap has even been widening. such disparities often result from differences in labour market practices, product market regulations or, more generally, the ease of doing business. and, indeed, euro area countries still differ widely in many aspects of their economic and financial structures. such differences are of course not a bad thing per se ; they reflect national preferences, cultures and histories that should be preserved and cultivated. europe does not impose a one - size - fits - all development model. 3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches but there is a clear relationship between the quality of institutions and economic prosperity. you can see this on my next slide. as shown by the left - hand chart, the better the overall quality of their economic institutions, the richer countries tend to be. france is a case in point, as you can see on the right - hand side. in the ecb survey on access to finance which i referred to earlier, firms were also asked which factors they consider as the greatest impediments to their business. clearly, many smes consider regulation as the most pressing problem in france, and noticeably more share that view here in the paris basin than in many other euro area regions. for this reason, reforming economies, reducing red tape and improving the business environment can help to promote stronger and more sustainable growth in all regions of the euro area. again, this is not about all countries adopting a single model. it is about each member state adopting a model that delivers the right outcomes while allowing them to find and exploit their comparative advantages in the single market and in economic and monetary union. 3 the european union actively supports governments in their efforts to allow productive firms to thrive, also here in france. for example, the region of centre - val de loire can draw on eu funds worth about €600 million via the european structural and investment funds for the period 201420. these funds aim, among other things, to boost

central bankers ’ speeches performance and their rankings in governance indices published by, among others, the world economic forum and transparency international. the contracts provide an opportunity, if used properly, to “ go deep ” and address these more fundamental barriers to competitiveness. building a stronger economic union along these lines is necessary to correct what might be called an “ original sin ” of emu : the fact that the convergence criteria did not include any structural benchmarks for joining the euro, and hence structural policies remained mainly within the national remit. 3. areas for further progress in the future what about those areas that were not outcomes of the european council and where there is room for further progress in the future? the most important is greater sharing of sovereignty. the importance of credible governance has been starkly demonstrated during the crisis. countries without credible policies have been forced by markets to consolidate more rapidly than others in the downturn. this is because markets have not trusted that they can run sufficient surpluses in good times, or achieve sufficient growth, to lower debt levels and ensure long - term sustainability. paradoxically, the lack of strong external constraints on fiscal and economic policies has led to countries losing substantive sovereignty in these areas. by the same token, countries now need to share more sovereignty in order to regain their sovereignty. by sharing decision - making with the european level, they can restore their policy credibility with investors, while at the same time having a voice over where they are heading. this will mean going beyond the maastricht logic of national responsibility for fiscal and structural policies, and committing to governance arrangements that are actually enforceable – for instance, allowing for intervention rights by the center to prevent unsound national budgets. sharing sovereignty implies a number of other changes to euro area governance. first, there have to be strong institutions in order to exercise that sovereignty effectively. this will require a stronger eurogroup. second, those european institutions have to be properly democratically legitimated. this requires changes in the way the citizens participate in the european political process, in particular via the european parliament. let me stress : while i would have liked the outcome of the european council to be more ambitious, these ideas are not intended as criticism of it. they are orientations to advance further which will need to be properly fleshed out in the years ahead as the integration process evolves. this will require a treaty change in the medium - term in order to complete emu in a comprehensive way. 4. conclusion one year ago,