There is a need to develop conditions of competitiveness and profitability in productive systems that will attract the funds of international investors on a permanent basis. The competitiveness of the financial industry in continental Europe is relatively low. Costs are high; the quality of the services provided is still inadequate.
Small markets and BIS Review 4/1998  -6-  the chronic weakness of some currencies have been a brake on the development of a more modern financial industry able to compete in the global market. In 1996 the current account of the European Union’s balance of payments showed a surplus of $ billion or 1 per cent of the area’s GDP.