Ensuring an institutional environment that encourages business creation and expansion should therefore be among our priorities, together with supporting innovation and the diffusion of technological progress. *** Let me stress, in conclusion, the importance of the ongoing process of structural reforms in the euro area. I see three main reasons for this process to be speeded up in the present European and global environment.
First, we have to elevate the level of our growth potential. This calls, in particular, for a flexible economy capable of taking full advantage of scientific and technological developments and, particularly, of the IT revolution as regards productivity.