european action plan, the paris declaration. at this very moment, important changes in the european supervisory architecture are being discussed, notably based on the recommendations of the de larosiere report. these include the recommendation to transform the so - called level three committees of national supervisors into european authorities. in the field of macro - prudential supervision, moreover, a european systemic risk council ( escr ) is recommended to be established, under the auspices of the ecb / escb. allow me to take a brief look at an aspect that has moved somewhat into the background of the policy debate at present. the policy initiatives should be coupled with a further striving for financial market integration in europe. history has shown that a tendency towards national retrenchment may increase in times of uncertainty. the recent crisis has indeed confirmed this. our current measurement of the state of financial integration shows some signs of segmentation along national borders, particularly for the interbank market. 3 it is thus important not to forget that integrated financial markets can help financial stability. they offer their participants a more efficient environment than a market divided by national borders ever could. integrated markets are more liquid and offer better opportunities for risk diversification, and therefore reinforce the shock - absorption capacity of the system. therefore, financial integration is directly linked to our objective of improving the resilience of markets and contributes to financial stability in the long term. cross - border financial risks are becoming more and more important in europe. therefore, while we need to remain firmly committed to financial integration in europe, the european financial architecture, i. e. the supervisory and regulatory framework, needs to adjust to this evolution and reflect a more integrated market with more cross - border activities. therefore, the recommendations of the de larosiere report form a good basis for discussion. the role of the ecb let me turn to the ecb ’ s role in this regard, specifically with regard to macro - prudential supervision. what the current crisis shows us is that we must attach greater importance to systemic risks. the creation of a european systemic risk council under the auspices of the ecb / escb – as proposed in the de larosiere report – would be an important step in the right direction. systemic risk is something that by nature reaches beyond the consideration of individual institutions and tries to capture interlinked risks in the financial system as a whole. this is clearly in the global public interest, and public institutions must address it. for this reason the see

the effective coordination of all policy initiatives is key for ensuring global consistency and success. europe can play an important role in defining the steps towards a new global financial architecture. integrated european financial markets – and let me emphasise at this point that the process of integration must continue to be pushed forward – mean that coordinated european solutions must be found for the supervision of cross - border banks and the monitoring of systemic risks. the next step is now the publication of a concrete proposal by the european commission for discussion in the ecofin council in june. i would therefore like to stress once more that the ecb in collaboration with the national central banks, the supervisory authorities and the european commission stands ready to assume the new tasks in macro - prudential supervision that i have mentioned. we will need to identify and analyse systemic risks and make precise and concrete suggestions to the relevant authorities. this must be done at a european or global level! thank you for your attention.