developments within the banking system as a whole or on the assets markets. typical macroprudential tools include the new capital buffers that banks are required to hold and which can be required to be increased in the face of overheated credit markets, or which may be graduated according to bank size so that systemically important banks are required to maintain higher capital levels than others. responsibility and competence in the field of macroprudential policy will be both at eurosystem and national level. the other area of initiatives is regulation of banking structures, for which the european commission is expected to submit a proposal in the immediate weeks ahead. the idea is that financial operations involving the highest risk are to be separated from ordinary deposit banking, to be carried out by special - purpose subsidiaries. this type of structural regulation seeks to prevent deposit protection provided to deposit banks from turning into an incentive for unhealthy risk - taking, where speculators benefit privately from profits, but do not take losses, “ privatising profits and socialising losses ”, as the saying goes. the commission ’ s proposal for structural regulation will take a stand on the propositions made by the eu ’ s high - level expert group of which i chaired. legislation relating to structural regulation, similar to those outlined in our report, is already underway in, for example, france, germany and the uk. i hope the commission ’ s forthcoming proposal will lead to as uniform legislation as possible on this issue in europe. the eurosystem, a special case the range of central bank tasks is becoming wider than it was before the onset of the crisis. this is a global phenomenon. the eurosystem – in other words, the ecb and the euro area central banks – form in this context a special case of their own, which is explained by the structure of economic and monetary union and also by europe ’ s internal political dynamics. the status assigned to the ecb and its practical policy - making have largely corresponded to the principles of “ modern central banking ” crystallised by fischer that i mentioned at the beginning : a clearly defined mandate, independence including safeguards against demands from governments pressing for central bank credit, and accountability. however, the ecb is different from the world ’ s other leading central banks. as a central bank common to many countries, its independence is of particular relevance. this is because the countries in monetary union have given up their monetary policy sovereignty. they made their decisions on joining monetary union as sovereign decision

panayotis thomopoulos : the financial environment in southeast europe speech by mr panayotis thomopoulos, deputy governor of the bank of greece, at the second international banking forum for the southeast european markets economist conference, athens, 4 december 2003. * * * it is a great pleasure to address this banking forum at this juncture as i believe that the economies are turning the corner and can now start enjoying the benefits of stability and growth within the framework of closer ties with the european union. after a difficult and hesitant start in the 1990s, there is now clear evidence that the transition economies of southeastern europe have improved their macroeconomic management and enhanced their financial systems so that they can look forward to sustained and high - quality growth. greece, as the only member of the european union in the region, has a clear interest in promoting the stability and growth of all our neighbors, and i can be proud that both the public and the private sectors of greece have played a role in the emerging success story of southeastern europe. we see our neighbors'economies mainly as complementary to our own, not as competitors, and the many greek businesses that are active in the region, especially in the financial sector, are proof of the increasing collaboration between my country and its neighbors. i believe that greece will continue to make a positive contribution to the economies of the region, but, i must admit, that i draw comfort from the fact that greece is now surrounded by open, dynamic economies, and i would add friendly countries. it would be an understatement to say that we have turned a page of our history. in effect, the collapse of communism ended not the thirty, or hundred years wars, but more than one thousand years of intrabalkan conflicts and greece is fully supporting balkan countries'e. u. membership, which would further strengthen the political and economic ties between all balkan countries. let me start with a short look at the international environment that the countries in southeastern europe are facing. the overall economic situation has improved significantly during the last few months. after months when expectations of a recovery were based mostly on so - called " soft data, " like surveys of consumer and business confidence, we are now seeing real " hard data " that point to the resumption of growth in all the main regions of the world economy. all members of the eu have now emerged from recession, although the growth rate is not what we would have wished it to be. growth in the eurozone should accelerate slowly,