Keynote speech by Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the joint workshop of the European Systemic Risk Board Advisory Technical Committee and Advisory Scientific Committee on “A European Safe Asset and Financial Stability”

Frankfurt am Main, 22 April 2026

A foundational element of any autonomous monetary system is the existence of a benchmark safe asset that serves as the anchor for asset pricing.^[1] Such a safe asset should be highly liquid, so that an investor can transact in large volumes without affecting market pricing. The safe asset should also rise in relative value during stress episodes, acting as a hedge against the volatility of risk assets. By extension, it is desirable for the international monetary system that there are global safe assets that are highly liquid (directly or indirectly) and rise in currency-adjusted value during stress episodes.^[2]

The current design of the euro area financial architecture results in an undersupply of…