to boost the power of the engine : reforms, including those underway, are therefore necessary. and, beyond bureaucratic barriers or corporate interests, the greatest priority is to reform vocational training and apprenticeships : we cannot remain in a situation where we have almost 3 million unemployed, of whom 600, 000 are young people, and companies cannot recruit the skills they need. i hear this everywhere from the entrepreneurs who participate in the advisory boards of the banque de france, from besancon to chateauroux last week. according to insee, hiring difficulties have been the main obstacle to corporate activity. my third wish is for financing. often, the governor of the banque de france encourages banks to lend more ; this is not the case at present! bank lending in france is very buoyant. bank lending to households and firms is growing at almost 6 % per year. this is good news, but we must avoid excesses. there are thus several efforts to be made in 2018 to ensure the smooth financing of our economy : remain vigilant to ensure financial stability, first and foremost. at last december's meeting of the haut conseil de stabilite financiere ( hcsf – high council for financial stability ), we decided to take a macroprudential measure to limit the sharp rise in the debt of certain large companies, including bond debt. it will apply as of 1 july after approval by the european authorities. if credit cycle risks persist – i. e. growth that is significantly higher than that justified by economic fundamentals – we stand ready to act further at any time in 2018, including if necessary by implementing a countercyclical capital buffer. promoting the attractiveness of the paris financial centre in the context of brexit, second : irrespective of the possible transition, the city will most likely lose its eu passporting rights. the paris financial centre must continue to develop, notably in the area of the clearing of financial instruments, and promote its numerous qualities, enhanced by the arrival of the eba, in order to become the main euro area centre for market activities. this is our collective challenge, over and above announcements of welcoming registered head offices. lastly, better channelling our savings. overall, the french economy has no lack of financing, thanks also to the soundness of its financial institutions. our challenge concerns more the nature of this financing : developing equity financing more than debt financing. flat tax is a welcome step towards a

eyes of europe and the world, which is extremely positive. lastly, in 2017 basel iii was finalised. bankers – largely represented this evening – had expressed, alongside others, serious concerns. the agreement of 7 december 2017 is the best possible agreement for our country and for europe, thanks to the particularly active commitment of french negotiators. we maintain, against all temptation of nilateralism or deregulation, our commitment to the multilateral rules of the game in place since 2009. and we are stabilising these rules once and for all : there will not be a basel iv. in sum, 2017 positively marked a turning point for both the united states and france. the beginning of 2018 has thus been characterised by a welcome optimism, but one which must not act as a disincentive : confidence yes, complacency no. we must not lie back and enjoy the return of blue skies ; we must take steps to ensure that this improvement is transformed into stronger and sustainable growth. to this end, i wish to make four collective wishes for the coming year. 2. four wishes for 2018 my first wish concerns europe. this does not so much concern our monetary policy, which has 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches entered a gradual normalisation phase, and which is a success ; i will not discuss it further this evening during the " silent period ". 2018 must above all be the year of economic union, which still largely remains to be built. we must now or never take advantage of the recovery to tackle the shortcomings of the euro area. because france and germany ’ s electoral calendars are aligned for the first time in 15 years, and since last friday, there is a prospect of a pro - european coalition in germany. and because now is the time to strengthen our economic instruments in order to deal with a future european recession, the day it comes. otherwise monetary policy may be overburdened. my second wish concerns our country. the french economy is in much better shape, but there are still major drags on growth. at around 1. 9 %, we are above our potential growth rate, which means that we are coming up against more structural limiters. there are at least two indications of this : a persistent negative growth differential vis - a - vis the euro area of around half a percentage point, and a current account deficit and hence a lack of competitiveness. in order to increase the speed of the french economy, we need