I want to stress two things here: •  The euro area has very rapidly and efficiently set to work to cure its fiscal weaknesses and can today boast some of the best results among the major developed economic regions: its public deficit has been reduced from 6.3% of GDP in 2009 to approximately 3% today; by the end of 2013, the euro area should show a positive primary balance;  •  While the commitment to progressively achieve sustainable levels of public debt and deficit has to be achieved; the measures need to be designed in such a way as to limit the negative side-effects on growth. For instance, efforts need to be focused on non-productive spending. In fact, there is only one way to durably raise the growth potential of our economies, and that is by structural reforms that enhance competitiveness. It is clear that the euro area is well equipped to confront the challenges of the 21st century. With 370 million consumers and high purchasing power, it remains the biggest market in the world. It is also the most economically integrated area, with highly qualified manpower and very good infrastructures. Too often, however, euro area countries are prevented from reaping the benefits of their position by the rigidities that have accumulated over time, during the periods of easy growth. Now, the international environment is more challenging: new and powerful competitors have emerged and comparative advantages are shifting. There is no alternative to adjustment.
Paris has the potential, the expertise and the infrastructures to do so. To introduce your two-days Forum on “Growth and Investment Opportunities in Europe”, I wish to first give you an overview of the current economic and financial situation in the euro area and then discuss the major changes currently underway that are considerably strengthening our monetary union. 1. Overview of the current economic and financial situation in the euro area  Before I start this overview, I would like to quote a famous sentence by Jean Monnet, one of the founding fathers of Europe: “what matters is neither to be optimistic nor pessimistic, what matters is to be determined”. In other words, what the euro area needs is neither euro-bashing nor celebration, but awareness and action. As you all know, overall growth in the euro area has been very weak for a few years. The most recent figure is a 0.3% contraction in GDP in the first quarter of 2013, following a decline of 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2012. Output has thus declined for six consecutive quarters, with labour market conditions remaining very weak. The euro area economies were badly affected by the crisis (first financial, then economic, then sovereign debt), and the fiscal adjustment that became necessary to overcome it has had a negative impact on growth as well. ECB projections see a gradual recovery taking shape later this year.