been used so far, access to the sli should not be conditional on the implementation of an adjustment program. its design would be such that it does not involve a stigma for member states. the issue of governance brings me to a broader reflection on the idea of a european monetary fund ( emf ). an emf would only make sense if its scope of action and its governance went beyond those of the current esm. otherwise, why would we give it a different name? the scope of action of a potential emf should not be limited to crisis management. we should entrust it with the role of crisis prevention in a broad sense, including contingent lending through the sli. this would require decision - making processes that would not be tied up by veto - based governance. 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches as president of the eurogroup and member of the european commission, the finance minister of the euro area would logically chair the board of governors of an emf and play a stronger role in situations that require board level judgement. in due course, it would be beneficial to bring an emf into the fold of the community method, which means anchoring this institution in the framework of union law [ the commission has suggested proceeding on the basis of art. 352 of the tfeu ]. within this framework – and only within it – it would make sense to entrust an emf with a broader surveillance mission, including the task of monitoring compliance with the common rules, a role that is today assigned to the european commission. ii. a micro accelerator, including the completion of the banking union let me now turn to the micro accelerator for the economic union : a financing union for investment and innovation. the aim is to better steer the euro area ’ s eur 350 billion annual savings surplus towards productive investment, notably by shoring up equity which is the key to an innovation economy. thanks to unified governance, this financing union would help circumvent bureaucratic barriers and foster synergies between the existing building blocks : the juncker investment plan, the capital markets union and the banking union. yet, for this financing union to be effective, progress is still needed in four key areas : first, providing incentives for cross - border investments – mainly in equity – through accounting, taxes and insolvency laws ; second, developing pan - european long - term saving products – with a key role for the insurance sector – and investment vehicles like european venture capital funds ; third, completing

francois villeroy de galhau : the euro – which way to go? keynote speech by mr francois villeroy de galhau, governor of the bank of france, at the econpol europe ( european network for economic and fiscal policy research ) founding conference and first annual meeting " the euro - which way to go? ", brussels, 9 november 2017. * * * mr president, ladies and gentlemen, 1 it is a pleasure to be in brussels today, which doesn ’ t happen so often for a central banker … who has just arrived from frankfurt. i welcome the fact that you at econpol europe have chosen the euro as the theme of your founding conference, and invited me to give this keynote speech. since maastricht 25 years ago, we have succeeded in building a monetary union. however we have not delivered on economic union. to avoid overburdening monetary policy, our union must stand on two feet rather than just one : that is why it is legitimate that we, as central bankers, propose ideas on this subject, even if we are not those who legitimately make decisions. it is now urgent to make concrete progress on economic union, all the more so as the economic context is now favourable, as confirmed today by the european commission. euro area growth of 2. 2 % in 2017 should be the highest rate in 10 years, and as strong as in the united states. it could be for france even slightly higher than forecasted ( 1. 6 % ), if we look at our banque de france forecast for q4 published this morning – at 0. 5 %. it will be sustained in the next two years thanks to strong investment and increased convergence among countries. these forecasts, including a positive but still subdued inflation, confirm the adequacy of the gradual normalisation of our monetary policy we are engaged in. there is a risk, however, that the debate will continue to revolve around two long - standing divisions : “ german rules ” vs “ french expenditure ” and “ community methods ” vs “ intergovernmental methods ". too many fears and suspicions have been inherited from the past, but we are living in a new era – which is also thanks to the acceleration of reforms in france – and in a time of unique historic opportunity. in rome, on 25 march of this year, the member states all expressed their clear will for “ the completion of the economic and monetary union ". we are in agreement on