need. let me be clear : we cannot allow ourselves to lag behind on cbdc. that may mean that we create if necessary a retail cbdc, in order to ensure the accessibility of central bank money for the general public, in particular in countries where the use of cash in payments is declining. and it may mean also that we decide to issue a wholesale cbdc, with the aim of improving the functioning of financial markets and institutions. within the eurosystem, the ecb has established a high - level task force ( hltf ) therefore, and just published its report. we will now in parallel ( i ) engage actively in a public consultation from next monday, ( ii ) study within the hltf all the regulatory, technical, financial stability issues, ( iii ) start experimentations within ncbs, of which the banque de france intends to be an active contributor including in retail cbdc. following this “ three - tracks approach ”, towards mid - 2021 the eurosystem will decide whether to launch a digital euro project, which would start with an investigation phase. whatever the decision, it would complement cash, not replace it. the eurosystem, the banque de france, will never abandon cash, as it is part citizen ’ s freedom in choosing their means of payments, and hence their trust in the currency. 3 / a european mobilisation on private payments infrastructure, thanks to the engagement of major european banks – including french ones – in the so - called “ european payments initiative ” ( epi ). we definitely need to go beyond existing national schemes, and offer crossborder solutions and a pan european brand. epi needs to be detailed, opened up to other banks and jurisdictions, and accelerated. but it definitely warrants the full support of the eurosystem. we should additionally ensure that efficient public infrastructure such as tips is compatible. let me stress that there is no contradiction between considering a euro - cbdc and supporting epi. we may probably need both, and we should in any case build them to be complementary. my preference would be to seek a renewed public / private partnership for the dissemination of central bank money in a retail form. possible impacts on the banking sector could be reduced with different tools : for instance, limiting the quantity of digital euro in circulation, and distributing it through commercial banks. validating such an intermediated model would provide enough customer proximity and value added to intermediaries ( like front - end solutions )

on the analysis of credit risk. a large currency area also provides more scope for specialised institutions to develop. all in all, market efficiency and liquidity help to cushion external shocks. 2. 3 taking into account these benefits, one could question why financial stability issues are still important in the euro area. in my view financial stability issues need to be re - visited today against the backdrop of the farreaching changes observed on the financial markets in the last decade, and taking into account the succession of market instability episodes. just to name a few, the asian crisis, the russian / ltcm crisis in 1998, the “ tech - bubble ” as of 2000. these episodes were characterised by situations of liquidity stress, market volatility, and the late discovery of risks that had spread widely through complex hedging and financial innovation devices. in this respect the complex relationship between volatility, financial innovation and financial stability deserves attention. clearly, volatility levels primarily reflects the degree of uncertainty of market participants. from a general point of view, volatility is a kind of genetic signature of the price setting mechanism in a competitive market. prices hover around the equilibrium through successive adjustments. when market participants express widely different views on this equilibrium price, or when the volume of transaction shrinks, volatility usually increases. in this respect, there is a close correlation between the occurrence of crises – such as the revealed insolvency of an emerging country, supply shocks on commodity prices, bursting of equity bubbles – and excessive volatility. volatility is not an indicator of market inefficiency. however, excessively high volatility has adverse effects on the behaviour of market participants and the real economy. from a corporate management point of view, volatility on capital markets lowers the predictability of the cost of capital. when reviewing investment source : report on financial structures – ecb - 2002 estimation in « central banks and financial stability – exploring an intermediate land » – second ecb central banking conference - 2002 bri – economic aspects of regional currency areas and the use of foreign currencies – 2002 – document non publie. opportunities, managers may want to avoid relying too heavily on external finance because of the uncertainties surrounding the cost, or even the sheer availability, of financing. this may lead companies to postpone or downsize investment projects. from a financial management point of view, large investors may give priority to companies with a low risk profile, in order