Otherwise monetary policy may bear too much of the burden during a future recession, which would be dangerous – monetary policy should not be the only game in town. In the euro area, we therefore need better economic policy coordination. Countries will continue to be responsible for their economic policies, but we can aim for a better collective economic strategy with more reforms in countries where they are needed and with more fiscal or wage support in countries with room for manoeuvre. This collective strategy could be supplemented by enhancing the European Stability Mechanism to transform it into a European Monetary Fund; this would require that the scope of its actions be expanded to include a genuine crisis prevention role and that its governance be amended. Otherwise, it would be a simple change of window dressing. ** To conclude, I would like to mention another reason why 2018 must be Europe’s year: our international environment, with the prospect of Brexit and the presidency of Mr. Trump in the United States. Confronted with the challenges of globalisation, Europe’s twofold message is essential. First, our common social model – die Soziale Marktwirtschaft – combines a high level of public service, relatively low levels of inequality and a strong intensity of social dialogue; it is the ideal response to the debate on inequality, which is returning to the forefront. Second, our commitment to multilateralism is vital to confronting the temptations of protectionism. We must resolutely defend, alongside Canada and certain Asian partners, the commonly respected rules and multilateral institutions.
I say this in my capacity as a totally independent central banker: the new government in France is taking reforms very seriously and is acting with impressive speed. France is now a reliable economic partner of Europe and Germany. Second, it would be ridiculous to reduce the debate to the old caricature that contrasts "German rules” with “French expenditure". To my mind, it is out of the question to implement a “transfer union”, which would only benefit certain countries, or to introduce Eurobonds, which would amount to collectivising debts. Need I remind that France too is a net contributor to the European budget, or to financing for Greece? But I am convinced that risk sharing between 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  countries can – and should – go hand-in-hand with risk reduction mechanisms. It is wrong to draw a distinction between solidarity and responsibility: in reality, they are complementary. For crisis prevention to be credible, it must also have the instruments needed to cushion the effects of substantial shocks that may arise regardless. As for the third cliché, let’s stop pitting the "French vision” against “German pragmatism". In order to reform the euro area, we must be practical and take real needs, and particularly those of businesses and entrepreneurs, as our starting point – as I aim to do in the second part of my speech.