behalf of the federal reserve system. he works closely with a national coordinator on the board's staff to ensure that the program is successful and provides effective and useful responses to your questions and concerns. in december, we held the first annual meeting for the district contacts and invited several bankers to help us learn more about the challenges faced by your institutions. drawing on the insights shared by the bankers at the meeting, we have refined our outreach efforts so that they better match the needs of your institutions. a key effort that we have completed since that meeting is the development of federal reserve training materials designed to help examiners understand the unique challenges faced by minority depository institutions. the training materials were recently shared with supervisory staff at a senior examiners'forum in dallas and will soon be used in other training for examiners. on the community reinvestment act ( cra ) front, the banking regulatory agencies approved q & as in january that allow non - minority - owned banks and non - women - owned banks to receive positive cra consideration for capital investments, loan participations, and other ventures made in cooperation with minority - owned banks, women - owned banks, or lowincome credit unions. while these activities must help meet the credit needs of the local communities in which the minority - owned banks, women - owned banks, or low - income credit unions are chartered, the q & as clarify that the activities do not also have to benefit the nonminority bank's assessment area. the q & as apply to all types and sizes of banks, regardless of the performance test under which they are being evaluated. on june 24, the agencies announced proposed rulemaking for cra that would codify the guidance provided in the january interagency q & as. in concluding, i would like to commend you for the important work that you do to support your communities. as a former banker and now as a regulator, i recognize the importance of fostering the soundness of minority - owned institutions to ensure that they can continue to provide access to credit, especially in our current economic environment. i wish you success and would be happy to take questions at this time.

: clear objectives, willingness to co - operate, and openness to “ newcomers ”. 1. from the beginning, europe has been set on a clear course and sailed with a clear mission. this is to achieve prosperity, peace, and stability for the citizens of europe. 2. member states work together as a team. they are willing to pool their specific abilities and national sovereignties. in a co - operative manner - unparalleled to any international organisation - they overcome differences and manage diversity. they share the conviction that they should find european solutions to european problems. the eurosystem is a perfect example for the co - operative approach that characterises the union. 3. europe has always been open for new member states. membership is neither limited nor exclusive. clear rules and procedures pave the way for newcomers to join the union. over time, the ship has grown in size and quality. new members joined and new competencies were acquired. in the nineties, the ship was given an important additional mast. this new mast is monetary union. its strong sails push the ship further. they reinforce the strength of the eu and generate stability. in the coming months, this ship will be restructured considerably and will expand its crew significantly. it is doing this at sea. the day - to - day work of the eu continues ; there is no break or pause that allows for practices or trial runs. the key challenge is to accomplish these tasks while keeping the three qualities. these qualities are worth maintaining. they have made the eu to what it is today. let me now concentrate on the first task, the constitution. the constitution the eu has diverted from its traditional path of recurring treaty reforms. it has decided to give itself a constitution. those of you who come from central and eastern european countries will be familiar with a process of adopting a constitution. in your countries the new constitutions have laid the foundation for an open society and democratic institutions. in the case of the eu, the new constitution does not signify the start of a new political era. why then has the eu embarked on a constitutional process? speaking as an outside observer to the process, it seems to me that the constitution is to serve two purposes. the first purpose is renovation. the eu has to be made fit for the future. it needs wellfunctioning decision - making procedures and effective institutions. this is not only in view of enlargement but also in order to adapt to new international demands and changing economic