and exploited to the extent feasible ". furthermore the council task force of which erkki is a member has been mandated by the governing council " to prepare proposals for discussion and decision on issues related to the role, objectives, functions and operational modalities of the eurosystem ". in my view, it has a crucial role to play as an independent think thank. having said that i believe that if the time is not ripe for a top - down decision, there should be room for ncbs – and in particular for medium - sized ncbs – to initiate voluntary collaboration in the development of joint projects and the exploitation of synergies following a bottom up approach. i think also that the long term vision for the eurosystem calls for a shift from the pure centralisation and decentralisation models that have been applied in the past towards models of pooling and consolidation. in my view, the cash ssp partnership fits perfectly into this framework. the introduction of euro banknotes provided an excellent opportunity for the nbb to modernise and reengineer its it - application for cash handling. the goal was twofold : first of all, to manage cash flows more efficiently, both within the central bank and between the central bank and its main customers, financial institutions and cash transport firms ; and secondly, to improve the security of these cash transactions. the successful implementation of this new cash application inspired the bank's cash department to start thinking about the possibility of promoting it to international scale, starting with the neighbouring central banks. so in 2006 cash ssp was formally born and the first agreements were signed between the dutch central bank, the banque centrale du luxembourg and the nbb. today the partnership is extended to a fourth partner, which shows that the scope of the business case is larger. also on behalf of the dutch central bank and the banque centrale du luxembourg let me warmly welcome you as a full and equal partner in the group. we find it very important that standards are being developed, because this shows to the commercial banks active in several countries, that we exploit a number of synergies of the single currency for cash handling and maybe, dear friends, could you use your privileged relationship with the baltic countries to see whether other central banks would be interested in such type of collaboration. from our side, we will continue at the nbb to try to play a pro - active role in promoting collaboration between central banks within the eurosystem also in other fields like collateral

christian noyer : the history and future of corporate social responsibility welcome speech by mr christian noyer, governor of the bank of france, at the symposium icca – eabh, paris, 27 october 2008. * * * minister, chairman, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to welcome you to the banque de france today together with the founder of the institute for corporate culture affairs, manfred pohl, who has organised this event. i would also like to thank ms kosciusko - morizet for doing us the honour of joining us in this debate, in her capacity as secretary of state for the environment. welcome to all! i wish to thank those who have come from neighbouring countries, and especially those who have travelled from further a field to take part in this symposium. this symposium is being held in this prestigious setting that is rich in history : the golden gallery of the hotel de toulouse. it is in this hotel that the banque de france set up its headquarters two hundred years ago to this year. much time would be required to recount the history of this building. i should at least mention that this gallery was designed at the start of the 17th century by francois mansart for mr de la vrilliere, a minister of louis xiii. it was then renovated in the style of the day at the start of the following century by robert de cotte, the first architect of louis xiv, for the count of toulouse, the legitimated son of the sun king and its new owner. naturally, this place provides an appropriate setting for putting matters into perspective. this is most apposite for the discussions to which mr pohl invites us today, because they should be considered from both a historical and forward - looking perspective. japanese philosophy teaches us that visiting the past teaches us new things. this privileged setting nevertheless does not isolate us from the world. the turmoil that we are experiencing gives a particular significance to your work. the current financial crisis and the unprecedented financial cooperation between countries to preserve financial stability should add a new dimension to the debate on corporate social responsibility. i therefore hope that this approach in perspective will shed light on both the implications of the corporate social responsibility ( csr ) and its potential role as a force for change in a globalised world. csr is a concept whereby companies and financial institutions not only consider their profitability and growth, but also the interests of society and the environment by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on stakeholders, employees