imagine a successful exit from the forthcoming tough european and franco - german - negotiations : the southern european countries - including france - accept domestic rules for fiscal discipline ; the northern countries including germany - accept a european fiscal capacity. fortunately, here we are not starting from scratch : a major step forward has been made thanks to the " next generation eu " ( ngeu ) programme, which was designed as a means of emerging from the economic crisis caused by the covid - 19 pandemic with a dual objective of recovery and long - term strategic investment. at the moment, our priority is of course to ensure the complete success of the ngeu programme, and even to adjust it to the consequences of the ukrainian shock. but it would be wise to think in two directions for the future : we should not aim to turn one - off into recurrent, but into an available instrument. not a new annual budget, but the capacity of a tool “ at hand ” that could be activated in the event of shocks, including asymmetric ones, page 7 of 9 affecting the eu : we would avoid the spectre of a " european transfer union " so feared in germany, in favour of a capacity that could benefit all. in terms of objectives, our first economic need is that of economic stabilisation, and therefore of an instrument to be activated at the low point of the cycle. but political consensus could probably only be reached around strategic investments in climate transition, innovation or defence. for the moment, europe is betting, as ngeu has done, on a form of constructive ambiguity between these two goals : it seems advisable, as we move forward, to better clarify the way in which they are articulated. being based on a common debt, this instrument would also make it possible, should it be activated, to raise the quantity of safe european assets available on financial markets, and thus to reinforce the capital markets union and the international role of the euro. 3. focusing the debate on the quality of public spending one essential point often remains the blind spot in our budgetary debate : the quality and efficiency of public spending. i am aware of the risk of appearing to give too easy or theoretical lessons on these subjects i am a great believer in our public service, and i am affected by the current crisis it is going through. so many public services in france are suffering from the dissatisfaction of both their players - the civil servants - and their users - the citizens. pointing systematically to a lack of resources and

while, in the meantime, enhancing the role and status of the sdr. there are good arguments to create international instruments providing a reliable store of value. there are also conceptual and political difficulties. a choice would have to be made as to the true nature of the “ super reserve currency ”. would it be a basket of existing monies such as the sdr today? or would it be a new “ fiat ” currency? more fundamentally, a new reserve currency would, in fact, grant a collective guarantee against exchange risk. this guarantee would benefit surplus countries and would be given by deficit countries. when the substitution account was discussed more than 25 years ago, it became clear, at the time that it would have to be part of a package encompassing explicit, binding and symmetric rules on balance of payment adjustments. most likely, the same questions would be raised again today and the creation of a new reserve currency would have to be part of a broader framework. that may take time, as our chinese colleagues are fond of reminding us when we discuss those issues. in the meantime, financial development in emerging economies can go a long way towards expanding the range of safe and liquid financial assets available to domestic and international investors. capital markets in local currencies have developed significantly over the last decade as fiscal positions in emerging countries have dramatically improved. there seems to be considerable scope for regional financial and monetary arrangements to prosper in the future. those huge pools of savings currently available can be intermediated locally instead of going through financial systems located in advanced economies. regional financial markets would have to complemented and underpinned by monetary arrangements. asian countries are working on and implementing progressively such schemes through the chiang mai initiative. we, in europe, monitor closely those evolutions as well as the progressive emergence of the rmb as an international currency. as you know, we have a long and successful history of economic, financial and monetary integration. we have learned a lot and, still recently, gone through many crises and difficulties. nevertheless the euro, which did not exist fifteen years ago, stands today as one of two major world currencies. we certainly don ’ t pretend our own experience should constitute a model or an example to be followed. i have, however, one certainty : a strong and permanently renewed spirit of cooperation has allowed us to overcome many obstacles and to reap many benefits in terms of prosperity and stability. in a world full of opportunities, but also increasingly complex, this may be an inspiration for all