François Villeroy de Galhau: France and Europe - economic developments, reforms and attractiveness Speech by Mr François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France, at the Paris Europlace International Financial Forum, New York City, 18 April 2018. * * * Accompanying slides of this speech. Ladies and gentlemen, Let me welcome this traditional gathering – Paris Europlace in New York – with a less traditional timing: one year after the French elections. And indeed much happened in these 12 months. In my remarks today, I would like to elaborate on what I call “the French momentum” and more generally the “euro area momentum”. We have a unique opportunity to implement crucial reforms both in France and in Europe that we must definitely seize. So I would like to share with you some thoughts on (i) our cyclical favourable environment (ii) hence, our structural acceleration, and (iii) Paris’ attractiveness, including in the post-Brexit world we must prepare. *** 1.Our cyclical opportunity and the present expansion phase  [Slide 2] The euro area economy is experiencing a strong and broad-based expansion: we have now seen 19 consecutive quarters of positive growth. In 2017, real GDP growth peaked at 2.5% and short-term economic indicators all point to a continued economic upswing. According to the latest ECB projections, real GDP is expected to expand at 2.4% in 2018, above potential. The breadth of this steady economic growth is noteworthy: dispersion across countries and sectors is at its lowest level for two decades.
Combining more reforms in France and more fiscal stimulus in Germany, as will happen, is welcome but not sufficient: we need a stronger Economic Union in the euro area to avoid overburdening monetary policy by the next recession. And second, that the United States and the G20 are clear-sighted enough to address their economic challenges through multilateral answers, and not unilateral ones: here too, France is a reliable partner. 4/4  BIS central bankers' speeches