My intention today is to promote understanding of the European policy framework and specifically our response to the financial crisis. Policy-makers around the globe are facing formidable challenges as the crisis, which originated within a few blocks from here, has swept across the globe. Restoring confidence in the global financial system is of paramount importance.
Countries should not unravel their budget consolidation efforts, but the consolidation should become more growth-friendly than what we have seen so far. In other words: less current expenditure and lower taxes and more expenditure on infrastructure and on human capital. All this should be accompanied by the implementation of structural reforms. Only structural reforms will bring Europe back onto a sustainable growth path.