me be credible as “ crypto - currencies ”, but could be used as settlement means – think of stablecoins for instance ; ( iii ) lastly, the emergence of decentralised market infrastructures : new technologies tend to reduce the use of proven centralised settlement systems. these revolutions offer the potential for increased market efficiency while reducing costs and time. but they entail several risks, and they could lead to significant concentration effects among a few dominant private networks : these would in practice “ re - intermediate ”, but without the trust and regulation associated with the architecture of the monetary and financial edifice that we – public and private players – have built together over a period of decades. in the face of this major challenge, we need to both innovate and regulate. for some, the conjunction between the two should be an “ or ”, considering them mutually exclusive : innovation in the form of a central bank digital currency would be an alternative, indeed the only alternative, to the unchecked development of decentralised finance. for me, the conjunction is “ and ” : the two pillars clearly work together to foster sustainable innovation ; this is why the eu should at once ( i ) adopt the mica regulation on crypto assets in the first half of this year, ( ii ) prepare for a central bank digital currency, a e - euro, by 2026. but the worst conjunction would be “ neither, nor ” : revolutions always happen quickly, and we are at risk of neither innovating nor regulating in time. in that case we would have failed in our historical mission and jeopardised centuries of work building up confidence in our money. page 8 sur 9 2 / let me now turn to the second major transformation underway, the ecological transition, which is an absolute necessity at the global level even if europe here lies ahead. climate change is accelerating. beyond the cop26 held in glasgow a few months ago, globally coordinated governmental policies are therefore necessary to anchor concrete and credible commitments, such as the one taken by the european union in its fit for 55 programme. and yes, policies to fight climate change should imperatively include an appropriate carbon price. rest assured that central banks will do everything they can do. the ecb monetary policy strategy review, concluded last summer under president lagarde ’ s leadership, sets out an ambitious action plan leading up to 2024. but central banks and financial intermediaries cannot solve everything, and substitute for adequate – and sometimes

warwick economics summit – 4 february 2022 twenty years later … and twenty years ahead speech by francois villeroy de galhau, governor of the banque de france press contact : mark deen ( mark. deen @ banque - france. fr ) page 1 sur 9 ladies and gentlemen, i am delighted to be with you today, though i would have preferred to actually come to warwick and your world - renowned university. and i am deeply honoured to offer today, with this speech, the very first of the persaud lectures, launched this year by professor avinash persaud – none other than the son of professor the honourable bishdonat persaud. i borrowed my title from the famous french writer alexandre dumas : twenty years later was his sequel to the three musketeers. january 1st marked 20 years since the introduction of the euro as cash. and if central banking isn ’ t quite as much fun as the tales of d ’ artagnan and his friends, our young currency has had a few adventures and it is worth drawing some lessons from them. i will then turn to the next twenty years and the two main transformations facing europe. before i plunge into this longer view, allow me to say a few words about the european central bank ’ s latest monetary policy decision as set out by ecb president christine lagarde. yesterday, in the face of increasing uncertainty on inflation, our key word was « more than ever » optionality. we take it seriously : we retain our full optionality on the decisions we will make from march and in the following quarters, informed then by the latest data, forecasts and geopolitical developments. and as we clearly stick to our sequencing – starting with first tapering and second lift off - we will also retain our full optionality about the pace of this sequence, and timing of moving from one stage to the other. hence, while the direction of the journey is clear, one shouldn ’ t rush to conclusions about its calendar : it will remain gradual, state dependent, and open in each of its steps. * i. the outstanding success of the euro so – back to the tale of the euro. you students are perhaps too young to remember the politics of the 1990s, but it ’ s worth reminding ourselves of how far we have come. when we recall that the european union had only 12 members when the maastricht treaty was signed in 1992, we realize how much page 2 sur 9