Spain and Portugal were among the countries that made resolving insolvent firms easier, a crucial ingredient for efficiently restructuring the economy in this transition period, as resources must shift from unproductive to productive activities. It is the latter that create jobs.
Moreover, I expect that a number of EU initiatives that have been already adopted or are underway should significantly reduce the policy-related obstacles to cross-border banking consolidation: I would just mention the European Commission’s review of the regulatory provisions 8 underpinning the supervisory approval process for qualifying shareholdings, the ongoing work by the level 3 Lamfalussy committees to enhance supervisory convergence and cooperation, and the recent adoption of the cross-border mergers directive.