made the decision to launch the european monetary system. since then i ’ ve worked in different ways and in different functions to realise the single currency, which is a milestone in the deepening of the european union. as a result of these functions, i had the great privilege to contribute at critical junctions. these historic, major efforts, which began shortly after the second world war, are of fundamental significance for european peace, stability and prosperity. i was extremely touched to be told that i would be receiving this year ’ s charlemagne prize. weser - kurier : is there a special relationship between germany and france? bis central bankers ’ speeches trichet : the friendship between germany and france has played a historic role in creating a united europe. this friendship needs to be put to the service of overall european unity, for all european nations. there are 27 countries in the european union and now 17 in the euro area. weser - kurier : you are about to enjoy cod and green cabbage at the schaffermahl. today is also the 85th birthday of paul bocuse, the inventor of “ nouvelle cuisine ”. what does good food mean to you? trichet : i love good food and “ nouvelle cuisine ”. i always like to discover something new. i ’ m sure i ’ ll do just that at the schaffermahl. bis central bankers ’ speeches

solvency 2 review must include a full and frank assessment of the framework that has now been in place for three years. of course, insurers have significantly improved their risk and capital management under solvency 2, and the insurance market is now more resilient and better equipped to cope with financial crises. but these positives must not be allowed to overshadow the questions that need to be asked after such a radical change, particularly about the impact on equity investment and the financing of the european economy, along with issues relating to volatility and complexity. the very fact that we ’ re calling it a “ review ” for 2020 means that, by definition, maintaining the status quo cannot be an option. as the preparatory work gets underway, i would like to see every topic, even the most awkward, raised and dealt with. i urge insurers to play an active role in the consultations and i can assure you that the acpr will make its presence felt in the coming discussions. in this regard, we are naturally supporting efforts by the french treasury and insurers to improve the prudential treatment of long - term equity investments already during the 2018 review. on a topical note, i would add that it is crucial for supervisors to apply all prudential requirements with equal rigour. the string of failures by insurers doing business on the french market under the fps, particularly in construction insurance, is a reminder of the importance of this. the acpr is obviously working hard to deal with this crisis, which is affecting tens of thousands of french policyholders. but the requisite convergence of supervisory practices also needs to become a reality very soon. i know that gabriel bernardino and eiopa are making this a priority. finally, let me be clear : it is unreasonable to apply the new ifrs17 accounting framework right now, given the current state of the discussions. aside from the complexities of creating a european governance framework for these standards, there is also an obvious issue of timing, and fortunately, the iasb appears to be reopening discussions on this. implementing ifrs17, which will be costly and complex, will follow on from implementation of solvency 2, a process that has kept insurers very busy. beyond the question of timetabling, there are major substantive issues. we want an agreement on identifying groups of loss - making contracts. as it stands, the draft is unworkable. we also want to see completion of