bit optimistic. but this being said it is difficult to judge what it means without all the analysis. for instance, when i look at the negative growth of the last quarter – minus 1. 2 per cent in france – one comforting aspect was that three - quarters of the decline was due to a reduction in inventories. so that was of course much better for the future because it means that once the inventories are back to the required level, to the level that corporates want to have, production starts up. so it is difficult to comment without seeing all the explanations. for the time being i have the feeling that our situation will be relatively, slightly better than that of some of our neighbour countries. what was one of our weaknesses in the past – that is a strong reliance on domestic demand and domestic consumption for growth, and certain weakness in net exports – has become a strength in the downturn. exports have fallen, like in germany, but their weight in gdp is much lower, so that it has hit the economy less. the consumer spending trend has remained positive. compared to countries like spain or the uk the average indebtedness of households was lower, so that the effect of the turmoil on consumer spending has been also relatively lower than in other countries. for all these reasons we felt that we had some slightly better resilience, but we must remain prudent. ft : should germany do more in terms of fiscal stimulus? cn : i think that they have decided on a second package that is sizable. i recognise the importance of the efforts that germany has made. ft : your plans for a central clearing house for derivatives have provoked controversy in london, where this is seen as a continental grab for business to pass though lch. clearnet and people are unconvinced that you need to have this lender - of - lastresort, central bank function. cn : for me, the argument is very simple. if you really want to have a safe system you really need these clearing houses to have the possibility of extensive access to central bank liquidity. i think that is the only way to ensure that in times of stress, when you have eventually defaults of counterparties, you can manage the liquidity in a smooth fashion. having said that, no central bank would accept large - scale access to central bank liquidity without having the oversight. ft : but market participants say that even after the lehman collapse, they still managed to unlock a lot of these trades

us growth. the french election gave a fresh political impetus to stability and reforms ; public support for europe has significantly increased : up 18 percentage points in france from last year ( 56 % in spring 2017 ) according to a recent survey by the pew research center ; and the same trend can be observed in a number of countries. most importantly, we in the eu - 27 should not devote all our energy to brexit, at the expense of investing in our own future. in this regard, it is the right time to move up a gear. to boost european growth, financial levers are of the essence, but economic levers play a role too. this is the reason why i often speak of europe ’ s “ growth triangle ”. in my view, europe needs to activate three levers : the financing union for investment and innovation that i have just described, but also implement national structural reforms on the one hand and a better euro area policy mix on the other. national structural reforms are a prerequisite for each country to unleash our collective growth page 5 sur 5 potential. in addition, they would amplify the effects of the financing union : such a union would foster firms ’ ability to invest and national reforms would foster firms ’ willingness to invest. the third lever is a euro area policy - mix based on a better coordination of macroeconomic policies. this requires a collective economic strategy whereby member states seal a deal : if we combine more structural reforms where they are needed – in france and italy for instance –, and more fiscal or wage support in countries with room for manoeuvre – for example, germany and the netherlands – growth and employment will undoubtedly be stronger everywhere in europe. if we seize this opportunity, europe ’ s time will come. thank you for your attention.