Allow me to start by briefly discussing the economic situation of the euro area. The euro area economic outlook In 2018 the euro area economy grew by 1.9%, compared with 2.4% in the previous year. This moderation in economic growth was mainly due to weaker global trade, as well as some temporary factors at both the domestic and global levels.
This is certainly helpful since the banking world, in particular, is currently in a state of upheaval. A new age – that of banking supervision – began a little over six months ago. On 4 November 2014, we established the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) for banks in Europe, the first pillar of a banking union.