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De Guindos starts by looking at why investment has been so weak in Europe in recent years, despite historically low levels of financing costs.
Weak investment since the crisis has been accompanied by slow productivity growth across virtually all advanced economies.
This all points to a need for national economic structures to become more conducive to growth and competitiveness.
The European Single Market has been a powerful tool for stimulating growth and competitiveness, but its functioning could be further improved.
Deepening EMU and an ambitious CMU would facilitate investment, notably across borders.
It is vital to continue implementing reforms to address the structural challenges facing the euro area. Reducing barriers to trade in services and disparities in national corporate tax systems could provide a new impetus to the European Single Market and stimulate investment.
Deepening European integration requires us to pursue an ambitious agenda for the financial system, to push for European responses within the CMU and banking union agendas and to go beyond tendencies to retrench behind national borders. Deep European capital markets are crucial to enhancing innovation and growth and to strengthening the cross-border dimension of investments in the EU.