ECB’s Villeroy hints at closer EU integration after Brexit
The governor of the Bank of France has suggested today that the European Union will move towards closer integration in the wake of Brexit.
François Villeroy de Galhau, who is also a European Central Bank (ECB) board member, told business delegates in London that the bloc’s collective response to Britain’s departure might become a further shift towards deeper unification.
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“On our side of the Channel, our collective response to Brexit may possibly be a further integration of Europe, with the new and promising Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen, rather than isolationism or paralysis,” said the governor of the Banque de France.
Speaking in Guildhall at the 23rd World Conference of Banking Institutes (WCBI), the senior banking official also addressed the state of contingency plans among financial firms for any form of Brexit, saying: “On our side, we are ready.”
The comments come a day after Boris Johnson visited Luxembourg to discuss Brexit with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
Following talks the Prime Minister pulled out of a joint press conference with the Luxembourg PM amid noisy protests near the podium.
Read more: Row breaks out over Johnson’s empty podium
Johnson has pledged to take Britain out of the EU with or without a deal by the end of October.
Villeroy de Galhau, a former senior executive of BNP Paribas, also warned in his speech today that so-called “stablecoins” such as Facebook’s face tough regulatory scrutiny, echoing concerns over the social media giant’s plans from a number of global policy makers in recent months.
He added that the current oil shock “could increase inflation and hamper growth”.
Yesterday oil prices witnessed their biggest daily gains in almost three decades following a series of drone strikes that wiped out half of Saudi Arabia’ crude production.