Christian Noyer: A founder’s perspective on the euro as a global currency Speech by Mr Christian Noyer, Governor of the Bank of France, at the joint conference “The euro at ten: the next global currency?”, sponsored by the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Bruegel, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington DC, 10 October 2008. *  *  *  Good afternoon. It is a great pleasure to be here today with so many friends and colleagues to celebrate ten years of the Euro as a global currency. I must confess this is not exactly my idea of a quiet and peaceful anniversary. When I was privileged to be designated as ECB's first Vice President, I would never have imagined that I would be sitting now, as a member of the Governing Council, dealing with the worst financial crisis in the last eighty years. Actually, one of the main gratification of the job during the crisis has been the quality of our collective interaction and deliberation in the Governing Council, based on our willingness, in very challenging circumstances, to share judgments and exchange views in a spirit of friendship and mutual respect. I am very proud to be part of such a group. Together, we have been able to make quick decisions and adjust flexibly to fast changing environment, without ever giving up on our mandate and our mission. Obviously, the Euro area, like the rest of the industrialised world, is going through a very rough patch.
But I tend to come out from this episode with some confidence in the appropriateness of our current arrangements. In addition to Central Banks, Governments in all countries have judged appropriate to act and try to restore financial stability through a broader set of policy actions. Initiatives have been taken first, to recapitalize banks through infusion of public money and, second, to foster confidence in deposit guarantees. In an European framework, such actions involve mainly national decisions which had to be made, in many cases, with some urgency. Hence the impression that, at least initially, the coordination may not have been perfect. But things are falling progressively into place and I am confident that any remaining issues will be quickly dealt with, according to the roadmap and joint principles recently adopted by ECOFIN Ministers. 2  BIS Review 122/2008  So I would encourage all market participants to take a step back and, as Jean-Claude Trichet said “collect themselves” to look at the whole package of measures which have been publicized. True, they have been announced through a succession of public statements. But, taken together, they represent decisive steps and a coherent package towards restoring confidence. I am convinced that their impact on the real economy and future growth is going to be extremely significant. Overall, it is fair to say that the euro has passed the test and comes strengthened out of the current difficulties.