At this point, the interaction of micro-prudential and macro-prudential policy, the second side of the triangular relationship, comes into play. As I said earlier, many banks in the euro area had to deleverage significantly during the crisis; they were not resilient enough. Some banks found it difficult to refinance because their equity ratios were too low.
So they had to increase their capital ratio during the downturn, and this curbed new lending. This cyclical behaviour cannot perhaps be eliminated with instruments from micro- and macro-prudential supervision, but it certainly can be attenuated. Supervision in Europe will take a preventive, risk-based approach. We will be pushing for more than compliance with the minimum capital and liquidity ratios under the supervisory regulation.