This has largely contributed to the emergence of an environment favorable to price stability and low unit production costs, strengthening the competitiveness of our European economy. Finally, all countries have experienced significant fiscal consolidation in the 1990s Enhanced European performances are also evidenced by the significant fiscal consolidation pursued in Europe in the 1990s. The general government deficit for the euro area fell by 3.5 percentage points between 1993 and 1997 and was brought back below the 3% threshold. Since then, deficits have continued to fall. The most recent data point to a public deficit of 1.2% of GDP for the euro area in 1999, down from 2.0% in 1998. Four countries of the euro area have managed to achieve a fiscal surplus since 1999. The fact that European member states have made significant efforts in order to improve their public finances does not mean that the process of fiscal consolidation is over. In fact, some member states, including France, still have some way to go to meet the Stability and Growth Pact goal of budget positions which are close to balance or in surplus. In addition, there is a need to further reduce government debt levels, which remained above 70% of GDP for the euro area.
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.