Stepping up reforms is now a priority in France too, with a focus on two main areas: on the one hand, sustainably consolidating our public finances, and on the other, aiming to achieve a structural economic transformation, with a major simplification effort in the labour market, and large-scale investment in education, vocational training and apprenticeships. The new government, under Mr Macron’s Presidency, has made decisive steps in that direction with the labour market reform voted this summer and already implemented, and a forthcoming reform of unemployment insurance, vocational training and apprenticeship next year. At the same time, measures have been taken to reduce the tax burden on investment. Moreover, decisions have been taken to reduce the government deficit. For the first time in 10 years, the government deficit should be below the threshold of 3% of GDP in 2017 (2.9%). The micro accelerator: a Financing Union for Investment and Innovation Let me now focus on the micro accelerator for the Economic Union, which is the second concentric circle. This micro accelerator would take the form of what I call a “Financing Union for Investment and Innovation”. The euro area is experiencing an excess of savings relative to investment of about 350 billion euros per year, which is more than 3% of GDP. The aim of such a Financing Union is to better steer these savings towards productive investment, notably by shoring up equity which is the key to an innovation economy.
François Villeroy de Galhau: Economic Union, Financing Union, Banking Union Speech by Mr François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France, at the Annual General Meeting of the Foreign Bankers’ Association, Amsterdam, 16 November 2017. * * * Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a pleasure to be in Amsterdam today and to give the keynote speech at your Annual General Meeting. I wish to warmly thank my friend Governor Klaas Knot and FBA Chairman Leonique van Houwelingen for their kind invitation. For a central banker, Amsterdam is a highly significant place, especially because the Bank of Amsterdam, in Dutch the “Amsterdamsche Wisselbank”, which was established as early as 1609, can be considered a precursor to central banks, before its role was taken over by the Nederlandsche Bank, which is also a venerable ainstitution since it was created by King William I in 1814. Furthermore, for a long time, Amsterdam has been an economic and financial capital and a major city at the heart of Europe. If I add your tradition of freedom and tolerance, your country is a paragon of many of the European virtues that we cherish. This afternoon, I would like to share with you some reflections as a central banker on a highly topical issue: the future of Europe. Your new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Halbe Zijlstra, gave a speech on this very theme last week and rightly called for “a Europe that is relevant to its people [and] which is again synonymous with prosperity and growth”.