if we wish to retain our clout in future trade negotiations at the global level. third asset : our common social model in europe. it is less widely discussed, but it is what fundamentally defines continental europe, and it is what german and french society and public opinion share. our social model combines a high level of public service, relatively low levels of inequality – much lower than in the united states – and a good intensity of social dialogue. and this has been achieved in a market economy. i would like to stress the extent to which this social market economy ( soziale marktwirtschaft ) is a response to the questions raised in the anglosaxon world, rather than protectionism : germany, like many other european countries, proves that economic success can go hand in hand with social welfare, and less inequality. we can be proud of these three assets that we have built together. but for the future, while some no longer seem to believe in the benefits of the european project, we can no longer afford to be complacent ; we cannot simply rest on our laurels. ii. in order to control our common destiny we need to build a better europe. how should we react? not by less europe. this would be a mistake if we want to take collective control of our destiny in this new world. but by a “ better ” europe, less caught up in the detail, more focused on a few key priorities, and more efficient. to achieve this, europe needs the energy of germany and france, and of their remarkable friendship. i will now cite chancellor helmut kohl : “ the germans and french must together build the hard core of the european union – a union that sees itself not merely as a common market, but as a community of values, a democracy based on freedom, the rule of law and the social responsibility of the state ”. 3 naturally i won ’ t talk to you this evening about the french election debate : i will simply say that as friends of france, you must not underestimate the strength of its institutions. i will talk to you even less about the german election debate. but i strongly believe that after these democratic elections, whatever the outcome, the governments of our two countries will have to confer to decide on a number of shared bilateral projects, and above all prepare a common initiative for europe. because for germany and for france, the other country is certainly the best possible partner : there is no serious alternative, neither in the east

stephen s poloz : release of the monetary policy report opening statement by mr stephen s poloz, governor of the bank of canada, at the press conference following the release of the monetary policy report, ottawa, ontario, 18 april 2018. * * * good morning. senior deputy governor wilkins and i are happy to be with you to answer your questions about today ’ s interest rate announcement and our monetary policy report ( mpr ). before taking your questions, let me briefly offer a few insights into governing council ’ s deliberations. inflation is on target and the economy is operating close to potential. that statement alone underscores the considerable progress seen in the economy over the past 12 months. that said, interest rates remain very low relative to historical experience. this is because the economy is not yet able to remain at full capacity on its own. furthermore, the sustainability of this level of activity is not assured ; although we expected the economy to moderate in the second half of 2017, that moderation has extended into early 2018 and has been more pronounced than expected. governing council considered recent economic data very carefully and concluded that the softness early this year was due mainly to two temporary factors. the first relates to changes to mortgage rules that went into effect at the start of the year. these caused house sales to be pulled forward into the fourth quarter of 2017. although we are still expecting the housing sector to moderate in 2018 compared with last year, we can expect a partial recovery of activity in the second quarter. the second factor is the unexpected drop in exports during the first quarter, much of which was related to transportation bottlenecks. this points to a partial recovery in the second quarter and later in the year. notice that we are expecting only a partial recovery in the level of exports — an issue i will return to in a moment. accordingly, we expect a strong rebound in the second quarter after a lacklustre first quarter, with an average growth rate of about 2 per cent in the first half of the year and a return to nearpotential growth thereafter. fiscal stimulus, both provincial and federal, is playing a role in this forecast. we will be monitoring the data for the second quarter very closely in the weeks ahead. assuming our forecast remains on track, it is governing council ’ s view that interest rates will need to move higher over time to keep inflation on target. we acknowledge that the forces weighing on the economy mean that monetary policy is likely to remain stimulative to some