Little Time Left to Wake Up - Can We Reconcile Europe with Speed?

BIS Central Banker Speeches

Published April 7th, 2026

Detected April 7th, 2026

Summary

François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Banque de France, delivered his final speech at the Eurofi High Level Seminar, reflecting on European urgency and the need for faster policy delivery. The speech emphasized that Europeans know what needs to be done but must overcome institutional inertia to act with greater speed. Drawing on Stoic philosophy from Cyprus, the birthplace of Zeno, Villeroy called for lucidity about unchangeable circumstances and determination to change what must be addressed.

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What changed

This is a valedictory speech by the Governor of the Bank of France reflecting on European economic policy challenges and the need for accelerated action. Villeroy addressed the gap between identified policy solutions and implementation speed, particularly regarding European competitiveness and economic coordination. The speech contains no binding commitments or new regulatory requirements.

For compliance officers and legal professionals, this speech represents the personal reflections of a departing central bank governor rather than official regulatory guidance or policy statements. While it signals the outgoing Governor's priorities regarding European economic coordination, it does not create compliance obligations, reporting requirements, or enforcement expectations. No action is required in response to this speech.

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François Villeroy de Galhau: Little time left to wake up - can we reconcile Europe with speed?

Speech (virtually) by Mr François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France, at the 2026 Eurofi High Level Seminar, Nicosia, 27 March 2026.

Central bank speech | 07 April 2026 by François Villeroy de Galhau PDF full text (893kb) | 10
pages Ladies and Gentlemen,

This Eurofi is especially meaningful to me, as it will be my last as Governor of the Banque de France; after 18 meetings in which I have had the privilege to participate, thanks to David Wright and Didier Cahen. I will therefore take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Eurofi and perhaps express myself even more freely today. Like all of you, I deeply regret not being able to meet in person in Cyprus. From Cyprus, birthplace of Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism, comes a timely lesson: we need lucidity about what we cannot change, and determination regarding what we must change. The conflict in the Middle East, which I will not address directly this morning, is one reason more to act stronger and faster.

Let me be straightforward: we Europeans don't have much time left to wake up. The question is not the "What?": we Europeans already know what needs to be done (I). The real question is "How?", and even more so "How fast": why are we so slow in delivering? Can we reconcile Europe with speed? (II).

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of the BIS. About the author François Villeroy de Galhau More from this author