potential growth in the medium term and to treat the fatal disease of mass unemployment. in recent years, several european countries, including in southern europe, have successfully carried out in - depth reforms that are yielding positive results in terms of growth and employment. germany, the netherlands and nordic countries, as well as spain and portugal, are proof that economic success, a solid single currency, and the european social model are compatible. we should run pro - business, long - term oriented, fiscally sound economic policies, while keeping the core elements of a common social model, which can be the dna and pride of europe in this highly divided world. the social model that we share in the eurozone combines a high level of public service, relatively low levels of inequality – much lower than in the united states – and a good intensity of social dialogue. call it “ social market economy ” if you want, without prejudice to the intense and legitimate debate within the uk today. page 2 sur 5 in france, growth has started to pick up, reaching 0. 6 % and 0. 5 % in the second and third quarters of 2017 respectively. however, despite strong job creation, the unemployment rate is still high, at 9. 4 % in the third quarter of 2017. therefore, stepping up reforms is now a priority in france too, with a focus on two main areas : sustainably consolidating our public finances, and aiming to achieve a structural economic transformation, with a major simplification effort in the labour market, and large - scale investment in education, vocational training and apprenticeships. the new government, under mr. macron ’ s presidency, has made decisive steps in that direction. i stress this as an independent central banker. as regards public finances, france still has one of the highest public spending levels among oecd countries, at 56 % of gdp in 2016. the french government is committed to reducing this ratio by 3 gdp points within the next 5 years. besides, measures have been taken to keep public deficits below the threshold of 3 % of gdp. for the first time in 10 years, the government deficit should be below this threshold in 2017 ( 2. 9 % ). needless to say, these efforts have to be pursued in the future, as the european commission stressed yesterday while acknowledging the progress france had already made. as regards the structural transformation, the government has decided to act rapidly by passing legislation by decree in the first months of its mandate. a substantial labour market

expectations. i would say the sequence is : independence, which is crystal clear and undisputed, triggers credibility, which in turn triggers the solid anchoring of inflationary expectations and permits us to deliver price stability. that is why we are so profoundly attached to independence. 30 ) mr juncker rebuffed you very strongly last week when he said “ i am mr euro for my competencies ”, leaving you saying you are mr euro for your competencies. do we have two mr euros in europe? answer : you are not at all quoting him exactly and i do not share your appreciation of what he said. the euro is a currency which is issued by central banks. the eurogroup is the college of ministers of finance. presiding over all ministers of finance of the euro area is a considerable responsibility. as far as i am concerned, on behalf of the governing council, i sign the euro banknotes. 31 ) but he said that he had responsibility as far as the competence of the finance ministers goes. answer : of course and it is an extremely important responsibility. 32 ) so we have two mr euros? answer : no. i have already responded to that question at the last press conference. 33 ) is the fact that stock markets heavily adjusted downwards recently a signal that economic growth is not doing well? answer : i would say that, on growth, as you know, we in the governing council extract from all information and signals that we are receiving what we would call the trend growth as we see it. that trend growth that we are extracting from those signals indicates that we are around potential in the euro area. this analysis was made at the end of 2005. we increased our rates in december 2005 on the basis of our economic and monetary analyses. in the economic analysis, it was clear for us that growth was reaccelerating and going progressively around potential. we maintained this analysis when we had somewhat disappointing information on growth in the last quarter of 2005, which we attributed to short - term volatility on a quarter - on - quarter basis. 34 ) did you maintain this sentiment also at the most recent governing council meeting in madrid? answer : we maintained this sentiment in madrid. we consider, again, that all the information we have from both surveys and from all other figures have to be replaced in a medium - term context and that they confirmed that we were around trend potential. 35 ) now that jurgen stark has taken over from otmar issing, the fears of