francois villeroy de galhau : new year wishes to the paris financial centre new year wishes to the paris financial centre by mr francois villeroy de galhau, governor of the bank of france, paris, 16 january 2019. * * * i would like to wish you all a very warm welcome to this magnificent golden gallery, which has just celebrated its three hundredth anniversary. the banque de france and the acpr have also established long - standing ties with the other public authorities and the players involved in the financing of the economy, and this cooperation plays a crucial role in ensuring financial stability and consumer protection. in view of this long - established relationship, i am all the more happy to extend to you our warmest personal wishes, for yourselves, your loved ones, and for all your staff. first, a word on the economic situation. although it is less glorious than what was expected a year ago, it is still relatively satisfactory : according to our surveys and despite the slowdown resulting from the yellow vests movement, economic activity in france increased by 1. 5 % in 2018. we expect the same figure for 2019. however, we face three challenges : uncertainty, impatience and isolationism – which can feed on each other at the dawn of this new year : uncertainties, from brexit to chinese growth ; the impatience that weighs everywhere on the sustainable reform efforts, and the isolationism embodied by the us protectionist postures. this year will also be the year of the european elections on may 26, which are essential for europe, and of the french presidency of the g7, which may be an opportunity for furthering effective solutions at the international level. tonight, however, i would like to focus on three wishes for the smooth financing of the economy : for the euro, for financial stability, and finally for inclusive finance. 1 - my first wish is for the euro, which has just celebrated its 20th anniversary the euro is an undeniable success. average annual inflation has been brought down from 4. 9 % over the two decades preceding the euro to 1. 7 % over the past two decades. this has contributed to preserving the purchasing power of european citizens. financing costs are significantly lower. our currency is now supported by 75 % of euro area citizens, and 72 % of french citizens : it is the highest level ever achieved since 2003. in 2019, euro area growth – although down – is expected to remain above its potential. in this environment, the normalisation

enriching professional life. it is precisely these skills that a university education has given you. of course, this is easiest to see amongst those of you who will stay in academia. but that will be only a very small number. last year at goethe university, 43 students received a phd in economics, while the same faculty awarded 327 master ’ s degrees and 839 bachelor ’ s degrees ( goethe university frankfurt 2018 ). 3 so what does the situation look like for those of you who will take different paths, pursuing a career in the corporate sector, in public administration, at non - profit institutions, or in politics? is “ science ” not something that you can perhaps pursue in your free time but is in no way applicable to your specific professional field? if the answer to this question were “ yes ”, it would mean that the university had not done its job. as a matter of fact, the exact opposite is the case : evidence - based reasoning will be of direct use to you in many fields outside university in improving processes and separating good arguments from bad. there are indeed a number of initiatives producing a greater quantity and quality of evidence in widely varying areas of society and the economy. “ evidence - based policy ” has a role to play in putting decisions on an improved, fact - based footing. seite 6 von 11 deutsche bundesbank, directorate general communications wilhelm - epstein - strasse 14, 60431 frankfurt am main, germany, tel : + 49 ( 0 ) 69 9566 3511 or 3512, fax : + 49 ( 0 ) 69 9566 3077 presse @ bundesbank. de, www. bundesbank. de reproduction permitted only if source is stated. examples of evidence - based policy let me give you an example from an area that we at the bundesbank are involved in – financial market regulation. last year, the g20 heads of state and government decided that the financial market reforms of the past decade should be systematically evaluated ( fsb 2017 ). the first step was to develop a general framework, which is now being applied in stages. areas of analysis include whether the derivatives market reforms implemented in recent years have worked as intended and the impact of financial reforms on infrastructure funding. access to finance for small and medium - sized firms is being explored as part of an ongoing assessment. the next step will be to examine whether, thanks to the reforms, the problem of systemically important financial institutions being “ too big to fail