Christine Lagarde: Jointly shaping Europe’s tomorrow

SPEECH

Jointly shaping Europe’s tomorrow

Introductory remarks by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly, 21 September 2020

• As President of the European Central Bank and a French citizen living and working in Germany, it is an honour to speak at this historic forum.
• This parliamentary assembly is an embodiment of the special relationship between our two countries and their commitment to European integration.
• I find it essential that the ECB constantly engages in two-way communication, especially with citizens representatives.
• Our regular interlocutor is the European Parliament, to whom we are accountable under the Treaty for our monetary policy tasks.
• Transnational settings like this one give us a further chance to look past nation-specific concerns as we discuss Europes future.
• We must shape the recovery from this crisis in such a way that our economies are fit for the world of tomorrow.

The unique strength of the European project

• [3] While incoming data suggest that we will see a strong rebound during the third quarter[4], the strength of the recovery remains very uncertain, as well as uneven and incomplete.
• It continues to be highly dependent on the future evolution of the pandemic and the success of containment policies.
• One major reason why we can expect a rebound in activity in the second half of the year is because, when faced with the largest economic shock since the Second World War, Europe and its leaders showed the unique strength of the European project: by acting together, we can achieve more.
• The ECB has played its part in this collective effort in the face of an unprecedented crisis.
• We launched the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) to help stabilise financial markets and ease our monetary policy stance considerably.
• Ambitious fiscal measures by national governments were complemented by a 540 billion European safety net.
• For the first time, a common budgetary instrument at European level can be used to complement fiscal stabilisers at national level, even if it is currently only temporary.

The case for jointly shaping Europe’s future

• It is time for Europe to move beyond the initial priority of containing the immediate impact of the crisis and shape a common vision for its future.
• We also increase our autonomy and ensure that Europe is better protected in the world of tomorrow.
• As legislators, you have a crucial role to play in designing policies that can revitalise our economies.
• Digitalisation is a case in point.
• We need to fully reap the potential gains from digital technologies and, at the same time, make sure labour markets remain inclusive.
• [5] By implementing the right set of national and European policies, we will achieve more together than we can alone.
• And deep and liquid capital markets will also go a long way towards strengthening the international role of the euro and bolstering Europes strategic autonomy.
• The ECBs ongoing strategy review will ensure that its monetary policy strategy is fit for purpose, both today and in the future.
• Listening to European citizens expectations and better understanding their economic concerns and expectations before making decisions is an important part of this review.

Conclusion