But apart from our interest in the effective transmission of monetary policy, there is a broader reason why central banks wish to see greater integration. At the end of the day, the ultimate objective of a central bank, as of any public policy maker, is to enhance citizen welfare. A number of pieces of empirical evidence reveal that financial integration has a positive effect on economic growth and, therefore, on welfare. The European Commission, London Economics and several researchers have provided us with interesting studies which estimate that a total removal of national barriers in European financial markets would imply a long-term increase in GDP growth of up to one percentage point. There is also evidence for the US, based on analysis of the effects of the removal of restrictions on cross-state bank branching and ownership, which points in the same direction. These two aspects – monetary policy transmission and promoting citizen welfare - explain the efforts that central banks have made to contribute to the integration process, although the leading roles and initiatives rightly correspond to the European Commission and to market forces. Maybe the most telling example of the central bank contribution is the establishment of TARGET, promoted by the Eurosystem and introduced at the beginning of Stage Three with the aim of integrating the system of large value payments across the euro area. It is widely recognised that its success has played a crucial role in the integration of interbank markets in Europe.
Miguel Fernández Ordóñez: Financial integration and stability in Europe Opening remarks by Mr Miguel Fernández Ordóñez, Governor of the Bank of Spain, at the Conference on "Financial Integration and Stability in Europe", organised by the Bank of Spain, the European Central Bank and the Center for Financial Studies, Madrid, 30 November 2006. *  *  *  Good morning ladies and gentleman. First of all, allow me to welcome you. We are really delighted to host this conference at the Banco de España in Madrid. Some of you are perhaps too young to remember, but it was here in Madrid, in 1989, that the European Council decided to embark on the first stage of Economic and Monetary Union, as envisaged in the Delors Report which was the catalyst for the EMU process. I would like to start my intervention today with a quote from the Delors Report; a quote that refers to financial integration. Simplifying, it said the following: The objective of a single financial area, in which all monetary and financial instruments circulate freely, and banking, securities and insurance services are offered uniformly throughout the area, would be fully implemented through the approval and enforcement of the necessary Community directives. You can appreciate the appealing simplicity of its definition of an integrated financial market: one where all monetary and financial instruments circulate freely, and where banking, securities and insurance services are offered uniformly.