the monetary policy council has been recommending for the past three years, a more extensive use of overtime should be accepted, especially in sectors where there is a labour shortage. more generally, the increase in europe ’ s employment rate from the current 61 % to 70 % in ten years ’ time, an objective which was confirmed by the european council meeting in nice and which aims at expanding the available workforce, is particularly timely and reveals a profound change in attitude ; • invest massively and loosen the constraints on capital. investment is essential in our economy in which the capacity utilisation rate is currently at a historic high, and where an increasing proportion of companies — 41 % today, as opposed to 30 % at the end of 1999 — are experiencing production bottlenecks. the latest banque de france survey shows that the capacity utilisation rate has reached a record high. this state of affairs makes the recommendation issued by the council over the past four years more appropriate than ever : “ now is the time to invest ”. • lastly, actively seek improvements in productivity, which lie at the very heart of economic growth by embracing technical progress, the digital revolution, the new information and communication technologies, biotechnology and material sciences and by promoting a high level of research and development in the productive sector in france as well as europe. this openness to technical progress and rapid productivity enhancement is one of the keys to maintaining low inflation and a long - lasting growth, which is vibrant, sustainable and creates jobs. * * * this, ladies and gentlemen, is what i wished to say about monetary policy and the french and european economies as we stand on the verge of the year 2001. may i draw your attention to the press kit that will be handed out to you. it contains documents that should prove very useful to a sound understanding of the economic and monetary situation, in particular the charts on production bottlenecks and recruitment difficulties. i would also like to point out the one hundred questions - andanswers on the changeover to the euro. these should provide individuals, professionals and the specialised press with clear and accurate information on any questions that may arise regarding the challenging events that await us in the years 2001 and 2002. this document will be available by tomorrow on the bank's web site at www. banque - france. fr, and it will be constantly updated. thank you for your attention.

christian noyer : the euro area perspectives keynote speech by mr christian noyer, governor of the bank of france and chairman of the board of directors of the bank for international settlements, at the paris europlace international financial forum, paris, 10 july 2013. * * * ladies and gentlemen, i am very pleased to have this opportunity to speak to such a distinguished audience and i thank paris europlace for the invitation. as arnaud de bresson just mentioned it, i take this opportunity to express, again, my strong support to the ongoing development of financial activities in off shore rmb out of paris. in that regard, let me also commend the work undertaken by paris europlace to federate and coordinate the variety of initiatives that we have seen develop over the recent months. we are lucky, here in paris, to benefit from the presence and the dynamism of the major chinese banks, which are among the main international banks. this is an asset for paris. similarly, the main french banks are active on the chinese markets, out of hong kong and out of mainland china. this is another major asset for paris as a financial center. both will benefit chinese corporates in france, and french corporates in the chinese markets. both these assets will guarantee that liquidity in rmb does and will flow smoothly from china to paris. furthermore, paris ambitions to serve as a hub for the development of yuan denominated business throughout the euro area. paris has the potential, the expertise and the infrastructures to do so. to introduce your two - days forum on “ growth and investment opportunities in europe ”, i wish to first give you an overview of the current economic and financial situation in the euro area and then discuss the major changes currently underway that are considerably strengthening our monetary union. 1. overview of the current economic and financial situation in the euro area before i start this overview, i would like to quote a famous sentence by jean monnet, one of the founding fathers of europe : “ what matters is neither to be optimistic nor pessimistic, what matters is to be determined ”. in other words, what the euro area needs is neither euro - bashing nor celebration, but awareness and action. as you all know, overall growth in the euro area has been very weak for a few years. the most recent figure is a 0. 3 % contraction in gdp in the first quarter of 2013, following a decline of 0. 6 % in the