speech jointly shaping europe ’ s tomorrow introductory remarks by christine lagarde, president of the ecb, at the franco - german parliamentary assembly, 21 september 2020 frankfurt am main, 21 september 2020 dear president schauble, dear president ferrand, honourable members of the franco - german assembly, i would like to thank you very warmly for inviting me to join you today. as president of the european central bank and a french citizen living and working in germany, it is an honour to speak at this historic forum. this parliamentary assembly is an embodiment of the special relationship between our two countries and their commitment to european integration. i find it essential that the ecb constantly engages in two - way communication, especially with citizens ’ representatives. we need to make sure that the ecb ’ s voice is heard by the people and that the people ’ s voice is heard by the ecb. this is why events like today ’ s are so important for me. our regular interlocutor is the european parliament, to whom we are accountable under the treaty for our monetary policy tasks. transnational settings like this one give us a further chance to look past nation - specific concerns as we discuss europe ’ s future. the coronavirus ( covid - 19 ) pandemic is a crisis of unprecedented magnitude. many of you will recognise the famous words of jean monnet, one of the founding fathers of the european project, who said : “ europe will be forged in crises and will be the sum of the solutions adopted for those crises ”. this pandemic has proven him right once more. undoubtedly, europe has been strengthened during this crisis. but europe now has the opportunity to show that it can be more than the sum of the solutions adopted in this crisis. once again, monnet ’ s words offer inspiration : “ europe itself is only a step towards the forms of organisation of the world of tomorrow ”. with these words in mind, we must seize this invaluable opportunity to strengthen our union. we must shape the recovery from this crisis in such a way that our economies are fit for the world of tomorrow. the unique strength of the european project the pandemic and the measures to contain the spread of the virus have caused a contraction in euro area economic activity that is unprecedented in peacetime. while incoming data suggest that we will see a strong rebound during the third quarter, the strength of the recovery remains very uncertain, as well as uneven and incomplete. it

4, 000 per person in australia. this is despite cash being used less and less for transactions. our analysis is that most of these banknotes are being held as a store of value. on average, there are 18 $ 100 notes and 38 $ 50 notes on issue for every person in australia. i don't have my share of these or know many people who do. as interest rates have risen recently, i thought that the attractiveness of holding banknotes as a store of value might decline, but there is little sign of that yet. time will tell, though. the reserve bank is also responsible for the design of australia's banknotes. given this, we are currently considering the design of the $ 5 banknote following the passing of queen elizabeth ii. we recognise that this is an issue that is of national interest and there is a long tradition of the monarch being on australia's banknotes. indeed, the monarch has been on at least one of australia's banknotes since 1923 and was on all our notes until 1953. given this tradition and the national significance of the issue, the bank is consulting with the australian government regarding whether or not the new $ 5 banknote should include a portrait of king charles iii. we will make a decision after this consultation with the government is complete. again, thank you very much for joining us this evening. we are looking forward to learning more from you over dinner about how things are going here in tasmania. 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches