Prepared by Matteo Falagiarda and Christine Gartner Published as part of the ECB Economic Bulletin, Issue 8/2022. On 1 January 2023 Croatia adopted the euro and became the 20th member of the euro area. The assessments set out in the 2022 convergence reports of the European Commission and the European Central Bank paved the way for the first enlargement of the euro area since Lithuania joined in 2015. On 12 July 2022 the Council of the European Union formally approved Croatia’s accession...

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The Digital Decade policy programme 2030, a monitoring and cooperation mechanism to achieve common targets for Europe's digital transformation by 2030, has entered into force. For the first time, the European Parliament, Member States and the Commission have jointly set concrete objectives and targets in the four key areas of digital skills, infrastructure including connectivity, the digitalisation of businesses, and online public services, in respect of the Declaration on European Digital Rights and Principles. The objectives and targets are accompanied...

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On 13 December 2022, the European Commission launched the process towards the adoption of an adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, which will foster safe trans-Atlantic data flows and address the concerns raised by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its Schrems II decision of July 2020. Today's draft decision follows the signature of a US Executive Order by President Biden on 7 October 2022, along with the regulations issued by the US Attorney General...

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The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has today announced the conclusion of two inquiries into the data processing operations of Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (“Meta Ireland”) in connection with the delivery of its Facebook and Instagram services. (Meta Ireland was previously known as Facebook Ireland Limited). Final decisions have now been made by the DPC in which it has fined Meta Ireland €210 million (for breaches of the GDPR relating to its Facebook service), and €180 million (for breaches in relation...

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With the right tools, policymakers can help to manage the climate risks impacting economies and financial systems When it comes to the devastating impact of climate change, most people think of the harm inflicted on lives and livelihoods. Yet the effects of more frequent and extreme weather are just as consequential for the health of financial systems. The physical impacts of climate-related shocks, such as hurricane damage to power grids, affect financial institutions and how they make decisions. So do the risks of transition to...

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Blog post by Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB | Trading in unbacked digital assets should be treated by regulators like gambling. Last year marked the unravelling of the crypto market as investors moved from the fear of missing out to the fear of not getting out. TerraUSD — a stablecoin that was stable in name only — was among the first to fall in a chain of collapses that brought down several lending platforms, a hedge fund,...

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The European Commission launched the process towards the adoption of an adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, which will foster safe trans-Atlantic data flows and address the concerns raised by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its Schrems II decision of July 2020. Today's draft decision follows the signature of a US Executive Order by President Biden on 7 October 2022, along with the regulations issued by the US Attorney General Merrick Garland. These two...

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Today, the EU's work on its ‘digital DNA' – the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles – has culminated: In the margins of the European Council, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed the text together with the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala for the rotating Council presidency. The Declaration, put forward by the Commission in January this year, presents the EU's commitment to a secure, safe and sustainable digital transformation...

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Good afternoon, the Vice-President and I welcome you to our press conference. The Governing Council today decided to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 50 basis points and, based on the substantial upward revision to the inflation outlook, we expect to raise them further. In particular, we judge that interest rates will still have to rise significantly at a steady pace to reach levels that are sufficiently restrictive to ensure a timely return of inflation to our two...

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"Why Bank Capital Matters" | Vice Chair for Supervision Michael S. Barr at the American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C. (virtual) | December 01, 2022 | In my first speech as Vice Chair for Supervision in September, I said that the Federal Reserve Board would soon engage in a holistic review of capital standards. My argument, then and now, is that our review of regulatory policy must be a periodic feature of bank oversight. Banking and the financial system continuously evolve,...

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