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The financial crisis that began in August 2007 was very late in mobilizing international leaders. At the time when the crisis was reaching its climax, after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the very effective reaction of European countries, under the French Presidency, and of the European Central Bank (ECB), undoubtedly contributed greatly to avoiding a real financial disaster.
The European Union’s coordination of national efforts to stimulate economic activity is taking place under more difficult conditions, given the differences in economic structure and in the assessment of the financial stakes in the various States. Consequently, the Union’s intervention in economic recovery must be more ambitious - notably via the European Investment Bank.
However, Europe must also take up another challenge for the future, that of exerting the greatest possible influence to impose a genuine reform of the international monetary and financial system covering the regulation, supervision and moralization of the activities dependent on this sector. It will be all the more successful in doing so if it is able to set an example by moving faster in implementing its own reforms.