Employment in this sector rose by more than 40% in France and Germany. Besides the improvement in the job situation in the euro area, which results from better economic prospects, it should be mentioned that over the past few years the European Union has embarked on determined efforts to promote structural reforms aimed at improving the functioning of labor markets. European countries increased flexibility in the labor market, in particular by developing part-time and temporary contracts. Let me quote some figures to illustrate this point: –  From 1995 to 1999, part-time employment rose from 14% to 17% of total employment in the euro area. This proportion is more important than in the United States, where it amounts to around 13% of total employment. More than half of overall net job creation was due to part-time employment. –  In conjunction with this development, temporary employment in the euro area rose to 15% of total employees in 1999. It is also worth mentioning an emerging trend towards more cross-border mobility of human resources, especially among young people. More and more university degrees include a stay in one or two foreign universities, thus helping to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers in Europe. Last but not least, a key feature which has fostered job creation in the euro area in recent years is wage moderation, together with reductions in the social charges imposed on employers.
This is why they certainly need to be closely monitored, not only within individual firms but also at the level of supervisory bodies. •  At a moment when all activities are tending to accelerate and render location issues more acute, changes in the regulatory environment are crucial to fostering efficient financial markets. Let me mention in particular the UCITS (mutual funds) Directive and the directive on occupational pension funds, which ought to eliminate barriers to investment and, of course, the importance of the directive on take-over bids in the context of the integration of national stock exchanges. More generally, it is very important for the European Union to accelerate reforms in the financial field. In this respect, as I said, key directives have to be laid down and transposed adequately in national laws, whereby the public authorities within FESCO and professionals (like the members of your association) should play a role to facilitate a harmonized set of principles or recommendations. On all these subjects, we can expect a lot of progress in the following months, within the guidelines already issued by the European Commission (in its Financial Services Action Plan). France, for its part, has already expressed its intention to put these matters on the Agenda when it takes over the presidency of the European Union in July. 2.2 Coming now to the process of consolidation in the banking sector, there is no need to recall how banking and financial consolidation has sped up in recent years in Europe.