recovery takes hold, the quality of jobs will improve and allow wages to rise, but this will take time. are the reforms undertaken by the euro area countries going in the right direction? it ’ s not the ecb ’ s job to give lectures. our mandate is to protect the purchasing power of the people of europe. growth has returned in all the euro area countries and consumer confidence across europe is at its highest for 16 years. the priority now is to achieve greater convergence between the countries and thus create a more resilient economic bloc. every country must continue with its reforms : in particular france, but also germany. does the economic transformation of france promised by emmanuel macron go far enough? it will enable france to make up for lost time. the return of growth in europe is offering france a 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches unique opportunity to pursue a coherent set of reforms in order to rectify its weaknesses : persistent unemployment, inadequate training, deficits in public finance and external trade. but this is happening at a time when globalisation and technological change are creating uncertainty. more flexibility is needed, it ’ s true, but we shouldn ’ t forget those who get left behind by this model. and the level of france ’ s public debt? on the budgetary front, france still faces a predicament. its deficit is falling, but mainly because the economy is growing again. if the economic climate changes, where will the room for manoeuvre be? it ’ s now high time that france, the second - largest economy in the euro area, let go of the ecb ’ s monetary policy. what institutional reforms will be needed to consolidate the euro area? that ’ s a matter for the heads of state and government. for a long time i have favoured the establishment of a euro area finance ministry. provided it was given the right financial tools, this would facilitate the handling of the next crisis without having to rely excessively on the ecb, which was mainly the case these past few years. but for the ministry to come into being, a degree of trust has to be recreated between the countries. in this discussion, the reforms and the serious nature of france ’ s budget are a test case. let ’ s also prevent the common budget from absolving governments of their budgetary responsibilities. would a european monetary fund make sense? i am not one of those who think that europe should get rid of the international monetary fund ( imf ). the

specific monetary policy measures are designed. but undoubtedly the eurosystem ’ s determined response contributed to overcoming the economic fallout of the pandemic. 3 conclusion another achievement, and one that brings us to the subject matter of our conference, has been the establishment of a high - level task force on central bank digital currency. the crisis may have changed the overarching agenda, but the topic of digital payment solutions is as cutting edge as it ever was. 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches indeed, the pandemic has tilted consumer behaviour towards contactless payments. whether this shift will be permanent remains to be seen. also, the private initiatives to offer digital means of payment, like the project launched by the libra initiative, have been further advanced, highlighting the demand for an instantaneous, internet - ready means of payment and the need to keep the payment systems that we central banks own up to speed. this notwithstanding, i am sure that cash will continue to be an important payment medium for the foreseeable future. one particularly interesting example of cash is the greek €1 coin : its national side shows the owl of athena which was depicted on an ancient coin. the little owl associated with the goddess athena became a symbol of wisdom – maybe the “ little bit of wisdom ” that you, christine, were referring to in your first press conference as ecb president. we are now impatient to hear what you have to say. christine, the floor is yours. thank you for your attention. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches