##tarded the process of “ churn ” between firms that drives resource reallocation. one study found that, in the early phase of the crisis, banks that were lowly capitalised were more likely to maintain credit to less creditworthy borrowers – so - called “ ever - greening. 20 this type of behaviour inhibits firm exits and reduces the availability of credit for new entrants. addressing these financing constraints has both a short - and a longer - term dimension. the short - term part concerns dealing with the legacy of the previous financial cycle – that is, repairing bank balance sheets and reintegrating the euro area ’ s financial markets. this is necessary so that capital can once more flow “ downhill ” from higher income to lower income buccirossi et al ( 2013 ), “ competition policy and productivity growth : an empirical assessment ”, in the review of economics and statistics, october 2013, 95 ( 4 ). european commission, product market review 2013 : financing the real economy, european economy 8, 2013. albertazzi, u. and marchetti, d. j. ( 2010 ), “ credit crunch, flight to quality and evergreening : an analysis of bank - firm relationships after lehman ”, working paper, banca d ’ italia. bis central bankers ’ speeches countries, and so that banks in those countries are sufficiently capitalised to be able to allocate credit efficiently. the main policy initiative that will support this is the banking union project and, as part of that, the ecb ’ s comprehensive assessment. its aim is to dispel doubts about asset quality and levels of capital and provisions, and in doing so to accelerate the process of deleveraging and restructuring in the banking sector that is the inevitable consequence of a major financial crisis. over the longer - term, however, it is important that policy - makers also reflect on the quality of financial integration in the euro area – that is, the incentive structures in the financial sector that can lead to inefficient credit allocation, and the channels for sharing risk when financial crises do arise. indeed, one criticism we could perhaps make of optimal currency area theory is that is does not take account of the financial instability that may arise when capital reallocates across regions, both in terms of inflows and outflows. banking union goes some way towards redressing this, which is why it is essential for the longer term stability of the euro area. in terms of improving

2375, european central bank ; mellina, s. and schmidt, t. ( 2018 ), “ the role of central bank knowledge and trust for the public ’ s inflation expectations ”, discussion paper, no 32, deutsche bundesbank. [ 2 ] see, for example, ehrmann, m. and fratzscher, m. ( 2011 ), “ politics and monetary policy ”, review of economics and statistics, vol. 93, pp. 941 - 960 ; ehrmann, m., soudan, m. and stracca, l. ( 2013 ), “ explaining european union citizens ’ trust in the european central bank in normal and crisis times ”, the scandinavian journal of economics, vol. 115, pp. 781 - 807. [ 3 ] most of these analyses are based on the eurobarometer survey, which is published by the european commission. [ 4 ] please see box 1 developments in trust in public institutions since the global financial crisis in “ citizens ’ attitudes towards the ecb, the euro and economic and monetary union ”, ecb, june 2020. [ 5 ] the following presentation builds on the article “ citizens ’ attitudes towards the ecb, the euro and economic and monetary union ”, european central bank ( 2020 ), economic bulletin, issue 4. the analysis uses eurobarometer survey data for the period 1999 - 2019. [ 6 ] while the share of ecb - sceptics has recently fallen slightly, this group constituted the largest share of respondents in the euro area over the period from 2013 to 2016. [ 7 ] the decline in support was particularly marked in ireland, greece, spain, cyprus, portugal and slovenia. in these countries, the share of ecb - sceptics and euro - sceptics increased notably. however, the number of monetary union supporters has meanwhile returned close to its pre - crisis level. [ 8 ] these countries include, for example, belgium, luxembourg, the netherlands, malta, austria, slovakia and finland. [ 9 ] at year - end 2019, the share of monetary union supporters had grown again, but the share of ecb - sceptics remained above its precrisis level. compared with the country level, the patterns of support vary across regions – considerably so in places. monetary union supporters were in the majority nationwide in countries such as finland, ireland, the netherlands and slovakia. support for the economic and monetary union varied more strongly across