Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure, and a challenge, to speak at the annual Europlace conference here in Paris because it is one of the landmark events of financial Europe. It is an opportunity to look at what has been achieved. And identify the challenges for the years ahead.

In 2002, my predecessor concluded his intervention here with these words: We have one single objective: a strong European capital market by 2005.

Let me start mine with these words: We have one single objective: an even stronger European capital market by 2010.

Does this mean we have failed so far?