intent. the basel rules, continual consultations and banking supervision in the individual countries make a fundamental contribution to stability. derivatives, this new invention of finance, provide the lubricant ; they reduce and redistribute the risks. sometimes they are transformed into fuel, pushing the system beyond the limits of prudence. national economies are linked with the global system through trade, but today, much more than in the past, through finance as well. the efficiency and stability of national financial systems and their coordination with the global market are necessary for the vitality and proper working of an economy ; they are not sufficient to ensure growth and prosperity. policies must in the first place correct macroeconomic imbalances and hence promote the full utilization of productive factors ; in open systems, they must foster competitiveness. from a broad perspective, competitiveness is simply the ability of an economy to supply, through its working, an adequate and growing flow of value added. accordingly, it appears to me that in open systems competitiveness comes to coincide with potential growth. in europe, and especially in italy, the potential growth of gdp has diminished in recent years. the introduction of the euro has not been accompanied by reforms capable of accelerating growth. monetary stability and low interest rates have brought benefits, but growth still has not ensued. the lisbon agenda, valid in its general formulation, must be applied with the support of the union and the member states in the individual economies by identifying the instruments for its implementation. to judge by its public statements, the european commission is working on these issues. demographic ageing −to whose implications for government budgets and macroeconomic equilibria, related in turn to those of individuals, modigliani devoted so much attention −is looming over europe, italy and other advanced economies. the public pension and health systems, conquests of great social value of the past century, must continue to provide their benefits to future generations. a wisely regulated immigration policy can be a resource, as the experience of the most advanced economy demonstrates. it is a policy that has substantial effects on the social, institutional and legal plane ; following thorough analysis based on solid principles, the problems must be addressed in ways that avoid extreme solutions. our interests must be borne in mind, but also the expectations of those who leave their own country in search of dignified living conditions, the aspiration and right of every human person. it has been affirmed by a high authority that every person, upon coming into the world

; it took almost two years of negotiations between the eurosystem and the european csd community to achieve a mutually satisfactory contract for the use of the platform ’ s settlement services. the broad participation in the governance of t2s ensured that all parties were given a voice in the project ; the complex governance setup will be tested during the operational phase, when decisions will have to be taken swiftly and at times under stress. why t2s after target2? i imagine this topic will be addressed by the ecb president in his talk. for now, let me just briefly rehearse some of the efficiency gains that t2s will bring. first and foremost, lower fees. in fact, with t2s the cost of settling cross - border transactions in europe will be lowered, and more appreciably so with the gradual increase in settlement volumes as migration proceeds. second, t2s will greatly facilitate transfers of collateral, hence liquidity management. this has become a critical issue in recent years because of the increasing demand for collateral. finally, t2s will contribute significantly to making settlement more reliable thanks to its extremely robust business continuity solution, based on the model already developed for target2. the next important step will be accomplished at the end of august when the italian csd monte titoli and the italian banking community bring their securities transactions to t2s for bis central bankers ’ speeches settlement. the italian market will add operational complexity through a substantial number of transactions, averaging 100 billion euro a day and topping 200 billion on the days of issuance and redemption of government bonds. this requires paying the utmost attention to avoid even the minimal operational risk that may still be related to the many technical procedures of the platform. and this is the reason why italian banks are now still actively testing the interaction of their internal it procedures in the new environment. banca d ’ italia has the job of monitoring trials in the italian market to ensure successful migration. we participate in the testing both as central bank and as customer of monte titoli, focusing on the issuance of italian government bonds and the related financial services. banca d ’ italia also serves, jointly with consob, as the supervisor of monte titoli. however, the challenges are not all behind us yet. very substantial volumes are still to arrive, not only with monte titoli at the end of august but also with the major players in the second and third waves. we have to work hard for t2s to be a