Speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at the dinner preceding the Charlemagne Prize ceremony in Aachen, Germany

Aachen, 13 May 2026

It is a particular pleasure to be here in Aachen – the city of Charlemagne – to celebrate Mario Draghi, our dear friend.

To speak of Charlemagne is to speak, almost inevitably, of the idea of European unity.

That is a natural association. Charlemagne was a singular leader, one whose realm reached across lands that today span several European countries.

Mario belongs to that same tradition.

I have had the good fortune, over many years, to observe him at close quarters: in different institutions, in different circumstances and under pressures that few ever encounter.

What has always struck me is how consistently he has been guided by a single conviction: that Europe is stronger when it builds together than when it retreats into itself.

But there is another, less well-known side to Charlemagne’s legacy.

Few people associate Charlemagne with…