##s – with the result that it now has limited control over the management of personal data. in parallel, the rise of crypto - assets and above all of stablecoins means they could potentially try to replace central bank and commercial bank money, even though they offer none of the same guarantees in terms of liquidity, service continuity and neutrality. in light of this situation, europe needs to develop a payments strategy. i have often pushed for this over the past two years. recently, we have made decisive progress thanks to the strong involvement of the ecb and the commission. we now have to put this into action and “ deliver ” – this is urgent for the next two years. this strategy notably combines three elements : 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches 1 / european regulation on stablecoins : on 24 september, the european commission published its mica project, which in our view provides a good basis for reconciling innovation with consumer protection and financial stability. 2 / an acceleration on the european central bank digital currency ( cbdc ), the “ digital euro ”. we haven ’ t yet decided on it, but we need to be ready to decide if it becomes necessary, and as soon as it becomes necessary. the banque de france was the first to start a programme of eight experiments on a wholesale cbdc, notably with a number of fintechs, to improve the functioning of the financial markets and institutions. if necessary, the eurosystem could decide to issue a retail cbdc to ensure the general public have access to central bank money, especially in countries where cash payments are in decline. the ecb has created a high - level task force whose report we published ten days ago. we will now launch a public consultation, starting today, examine all regulatory and technical issues, and begin experiments at the national central banks – the banque de france will contribute actively to this. between now and mid - 2021, the eurosystem will decide whether to launch a project for a digital euro, which would start with an investigatory phase. and while we ’ re on the topic, let me just comment on the terminology used : you sometimes hear people talk about cryptocurrencies, but the term is a contradiction. you either have a currency, with all its functions and a public guarantee, or private crypto - assets. but there is no such thing as a cryptocurrency. 3 / a european mobilisation on private payment infrastructures thanks

fair and effective markets at its core. and finally wells and mccolgan showed us the enormous pay - offs for hard work, dedication and perseverance. winning the economic marathon will take similar determination. but the prize of a durable expansion is great and, if inspired by some of scotland ’ s many heroes, we should not fail. bis central bankers ’ speeches chart 1 : average gdp growth ( 2008 – 2013 ) of uk export destinations ( a ) ( b ) % 11 % 23 % 4. 5 4. 0 3. 5 3. 0 2. 5 2. 0 1. 5 2012 share of uk exports = 66 % 1. 0 0. 5 us, eu, switzerland, japan ( a ) ( b ) commonwealth other emerging markets 0. 0 bars show the mean calendar - year gdp growth rate between 2008 and 2013 for all countries included in the groupings. uk export share data is not available for all countries. for regions where country - level data is not available, chart assumes that uk exports are distributed between commonwealth and “ other ” countries in proportion to the number of those types of countries in each region. bis central bankers ’ speeches table 1 : annual average growth rates of trade and gdp ( per cent ) united kingdom ( a ) exports imports 1701 – 1830 gdp 1. 1 1830 – 70 5. 0 4. 4 2. 0 1870 – 1913 2. 9 3. 1 1. 9 1913 – 50 1. 3 0. 7 1. 5 1950 – 73 4. 4 4. 4 2. 6 1973 – 2001 4. 8 5. 1 2. 4 trade gdp world ( b ) volume 1500 – 1820 1. 0 0. 3 1820 – 70 4. 2 0. 9 1870 – 1913 3. 4 2. 1 1913 – 50 0. 9 1. 8 1950 – 73 7. 9 4. 9 1973 – 2001 5. 2 3. 1 1820 – 2001 3. 9 2. 2 ( a ) bank calculations and hills, thomas and dimsdale ( 2010 ), “ the uk recession in context – what do three centuries of data tell us? ”, bank of england quarterly bulletin, q4. ( b ) table 6 in angus maddison ( 2005 ), growth and interaction in the world economy : the roots of modernity, the aei press, washington. bis central bankers ’ speeches