”. europe is facing an unacceptable paradox : we have the world's largest pool of domestic savings – with the household saving rate hitting an all - time high in 2020 – but since the 2008 financial crisis, investment has been declining, especially in southern and eastern europe xiv : and the equity financing of non - financial firm ’ s is underdeveloped compared to the united states : it only represents 76 % of euro area gdp, versus 176 % in the united states : page 14 sur 14 in the current context of the covid crisis, consolidating the capital markets union is even more essential to complement public measures and support the economy. there is still too much fragmentation. tangible solutions are in the pipeline such as new regulatory measures to help companies raise funds rapidly on markets in the context of covid - 19. further efforts should also be made in the areas of pan - european venture capital, market supervision or companies ’ data transparencyxv. * * * in conclusion, i would like to mention a more “ cultural ” cause of our european lag : let us call it a confidence gap. according to a 2018 global surveyxvi, trust in a better future was at 30 % on average in europe, compared with 45 % in the united states and … 66 % in india. but knowing where we come from – so many wars, and deep - rooted traumas – should not stop us from asserting the success of our european union, and what we truly believe in. just think of what europeans have been able to accomplish in more than five centuries : from 1492 to the 19th century, from amsterdam and madrid to london and paris, we, europeans, were the inventors of the world. yes, europe also is “ bound to leadxvii ”, not out of fear but out of hope, not out of violence but out of exemplarity. in the current crisis of globalisation, europe does not need to keep its head bowed ; it should assert and propose a model – its own social, environmental and multilateral model … one that can fulfil the strong expectations of your generation worldwide : respect for our planet, desire for social justice and ethics. as young european leaders, this will be the opportunity and duty of your generation. in this quest, let me quote another illustrious european, emperor charles v, born in gand, 40 km from bruges. his motto can inspire us : “ plus oultre ” … look beyond,

dutch citizens have a bank account. plus, in the netherlands, we also devote a lot of attention to financial education, another important aspect of financial inclusion. you also play a big role in this respect. these initiatives include the money week project for primary school pupils, the money wise platform, as well as the activities of child and youth finance international. yet there's another aspect of financial inclusion i'd like to see us pay more attention to in this country : resilience. we strive for financially resilient consumers in society. consumers should, in order to be resilient, make prudent and sound decisions. that's one aspect on which we still have much work to do in the netherlands. it is apparent in several areas. let me give you a few examples : national issue # 1 : vulnerable groups for one, the impact of innovation, and the widespread digitization of financial products and services. this development means that many more people are now able to gain access to, for instance, insurance and banking services for the very first time. it's fantastic to see what innovation can deliver in this respect. however, in the netherlands we have seen how innovation has also led to certain sections of society becoming more financially vulnerable. this is due to banks closing more of their branches and reducing the number of atms. at the same time, the new products and services that fintech companies offer are sometimes still inaccessible for certain groups. these include the elderly, the handicapped, and people with low digital literacy. these days, innovative firms focus on specific or younger target groups. the early adopters. this is a logical business strategy. however, during this transition we must also consider the needs of more vulnerable groups. after all, access to these products and services should be available to everyone. while we are dismantling old systems and introducing new ones, the vulnerable among us may not always be able to keep up. they run a risk of becoming disenfranchised – a risk of being left out in the cold. national issue # 2 : exclusion the second development i'd like to call your attention to under the aegis of ‘ financial resilience ’ is the use of data analysis to make services more personalised. again, we can see how this has had a very positive impact internationally. for example, if a financial service provider, based on data analysis, can see a customer is reliable, then such service provider is more likely to grant that