At the Brussels summit that launched the euro two years ago, President, Mr Jacques Chirac, and Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin, enraged their German and other EU partners by insisting that the governor of the French central bank, Mr Jean-Claude Trichet, share the first eight-year presidency of the European Central Bank with the Dutch banker Mr Wim Duisenberg.
But since the announcement that Mr Trichet is under judicial investigation for possibly lying to the markets eight years ago, there have been calls for him to resign. His legal problems are partly blamed for the continuing decline of the euro - which he fought hard to prepare France for - and his chances of succeeding Mr Duisenberg in 2002 appear almost nil.
Mr Trichet's predicament is even more embarrassing because he is currently leading celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the Banque de France, including an opera concert and reception on May 29th. Only six months ago, the French finance minister Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn was forced to resign after he too was mis en examen - officially placed under investigation. Both men enjoyed excellent reputations abroad.
In France, Mr Trichet is known as "the ayatollah of monetarism" for resisting calls for a competitive devaluation of the franc after he became governor of the central bank in 1993. Many French politicians claimed that his inordinate fear of inflation led Mr Trichet to stifle growth and aggravate unemployment by clinging to parity with the deutschmark.
Unlike Mr Strauss-Kahn, who allegedly received legal fees from a Socialist student insurance scheme for work he did not do, Mr Trichet has not been accused of wrongful personal gain. The notification sent to him by the investigating magistrate, Mr Jean-Pierre Zanoto, says he is suspected of "publication of false information to the markets and presentation of inaccurate accounts" when he was still the director of the French treasury in 1992.
In that year, French authorities realised with something approaching panic that the then state-owned Credit Lyonnais bank had over-extended itself, risking huge sums in sectors as varied as the US film company Metro Goldwyn Mayer, the property market (which collapsed in France in the early 1990s), wholesale distribution, shipbuilding and hazardous waste treatment. The bank was found to be in violation of the international "Cook ratio", which requires that a bank's capital be equivalent to 8 per cent of its loans. The regulation was established on the basis that about 5 per cent of loans go bad. Most banks maintain a ratio of between 10 and 12 per cent. The Credit Lyonnais ratio was only 3 to 4 per cent.
In an attempt to fulfill the Cook ratio - at least on paper - and avoid bad publicity, the then president of the Credit Lyonnais, Mr Jean-Yves Haberer, is believed to have conspired with French officials to doctor accounts. Documents uncovered by investigators seem to indicate that the misleading December 31st, 1992 balance sheet was the result of an agreement between the treasury, central bank and Credit Lyonnais. In a raid on the headquarters of the banking commission, investigators found proposals exchanged by the late secretary general of the commission and the Credit Lyonnais to minimise the bank's enormous losses.
Before the Credit Lyonnais was privatised last year, the French government estimates it lost 100 billion French francs (€15 billion).
The European Commission, which conducted acrimonious negotiations with Paris over the Credit Lyonnais bail-out, believes the real figure was closer to £24 billion (€30 billion).
A lawsuit by former shareholders of the bankrupt California junk-bond company Executive Life, which was bought out by Credit Lyonnais, could add billions more to its losses.
In 1992, the Credit Lyonnais arbitrarily halved its estimated risk exposure, and cash that had been set aside to cover losses was transferred back into the bank's accounts.
The core issue is whether Mr Trichet knew this was being done, and whether Judge Zanoto can prove it. Mr Trichet managed to seize the initiative by announcing himself that he was under investigation - thus ensuring that journalists went to the Banque de France for further information.
If he is charged and tried, Mr Trichet will be required to step down as governor of the central bank. If not, he will probably carry on as governor but could not expect to take over the ECB unless he is cleared in what would be a miraculously short time for the French justice system.
In his statement issued on April 28th, Mr Trichet said he was "deeply surprised" to learn he was under investigation. "At the time, the head of the treasury was at the origin of indepth investigations which led to the change in this commercial bank's strategic orientation," he wrote, adding that he has "total confidence in the justice of our country and hold myself at the complete disposition of the investigating magistrate, to whom I will prove the good faith of the treasury".
Mr Trichet is expected to be questioned by Judge Zanoto within days.
