to pay instantly across borders by connecting several fast payment systems from around the world ( including eurosystem ’ s tips ). • longer - term and more global projects could pave the way for new avenues. the bis x and the imf xi are actively thinking about integrated platforms, which would bring together tokenised central bank money, tokenised deposits and tokenised financial assets. in particular, the bis ’ blueprint for a unified ledger holds strong promises, as it would make cbdcs natively interoperable and would significantly ease cross - border payments. we look forward to playing our part in this project. meanwhile, we continue our experiments, together with the bis, the imf and national central banks. after the mariana project conducted under the aegis of bisih, i am pleased to announce that the banque de france will soon take part in the mas ’ guardian project. our common experiment, “ les gardiennes ”, will deal with multi - cbdcs and potentially tokenised deposits in cross - currency and cross - border repos. * * i will conclude with one of our contemporary architects, frank gehry, who was one of the very first to make use of computer capabilities in order to design iconic buildings. he once said “ architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness ”. this is precisely what we, central banks, are striving to achieve once more, together with private partners. thank you for your attention. page 5 sur 4 menon, r., the future of money, finance, and the internet, speech, 9 november 2021 please refer for instance to villeroy de galhau, f., big techs in finance – a bildungsroman that is far from over, speech, 9 february 2023 and regulation and innovation : the yin and yang of the financial sector, speech, 5 july iii banque de france, wholesale central bank digital currency experiments with the banque de france, new insights and key takeaways, july 2023. iv european central bank, eurosystem to explore new technologies for wholesale central bank money settlement, press release, 28 april 2023. v european central bank, survey n eurosystem plans for trials and experiments on new technologies for wholesale central bank money settlement, 13 october 2023 vi european central bank, eurosystem proceeds to next phase of digital euro project, press release, 18 october vii european commission, proposal for a

economy day 2019 volksbanken raiffeisenbanken – frankfurt, 14 november the future of the european economic and monetary union speech by francois villeroy de galhau, governor of the banque de france press contact : mark deen ( mark. deen @ banque - france. fr ; 06 88 56 54 03 ). page 1 sur 7 ladies and gentlemen, i am very pleased to be here with you and wish to thank you for your invitation. it ’ s almost like a home from home for me here : i visit frankfurt at least twice a month for ecb governing council meetings! i should add that i myself worked as a retail banker for 12 years. today i am also speaking to you as a committed european and a friend of germany. i am french but my family roots are in saarland. my family has lived there since the end of the 18th century and its ceramics company, villeroy & boch, is part of the german “ mittelstand ”. i love germany, its language and its culture. the impressive number of participants in today ’ s event is testament to the vitality of the volksbanken raiffeisenbanken. through their ideas, friedrich wilhelm raiffeisen and hermann schulze - delitzsch [ founder of the volksbanken ] influenced many cooperative banking initiatives in europe and throughout the world. the cooperative model has proved its resilience, first and foremost because it inspires confidence over the long term. these two core values of confidence and stability are also what characterise our single currency, the euro. this year it celebrated its 20th birthday. however, to optimise its benefits objectively, we need to overcome four cliches. i shall then turn to your banking industry and its three key challenges for tomorrow. * * i. overcoming four cliches in order to optimise the euro area. i am fully aware of the criticisms and debates that exist here in germany about the functioning of the euro area. not everything is perfect ; but germany can be proud of having helped to create an internationally recognised currency inspired by its own core values : independence, respect for treaties, price stability and a long - term approach. the ecb and the euro are the true descendants of the bundesbank and deutsche mark. but today, if we want to move forward with a serene debate, we need to get rid of four cliches. page 2 sur 7 the first one that