The latest Standard Eurobarometer survey conducted in June 2023 and published today shows that EU citizens continue to back overwhelmingly the energy transition and to expect massive investment in renewables. They continue to widely approve measures taken by the EU to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. They also support stronger EU defence cooperation and increased defence spending. While inflation remains a major concern, perceptions of the economic situation and economic expectations are improving. A majority of Europeans believe that NextGenerationEU,...

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The Council today adopted a new regulation that strengthens sustainability rules for batteries and waste batteries. The regulation will regulate the entire life cycle of batteries – from production to reuse and recycling – and ensure that they are safe, sustainable and competitive. Batteries are key to the decarbonisation process and the EU's shift towards zero-emission modes of transport. At the same time end-of-life batteries contain many valuable resources and we must be able to reuse those critical raw materials...

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Europeans invited to express preferences on shortlisted themes in public survey open until 31 August 2023 ECB’s Governing Council expected to choose future theme by 2024, and final designs in 2026 The European Central Bank (ECB) is asking European citizens about their views on the proposed themes for the next series of euro banknotes. From 10 July until 31 August 2023 everybody in the euro area can respond to a survey on the ECB’s website. In addition, to ensure opinions...

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How would you rank the Rencontres économiques d`Aix-en-Provence on the international stage − as the Provence version of Davos? I would describe it as an important meeting place for stimulating discussions on economic issues, similar to the forum on central banking hosted by the European Central Bank in Sintra, Portugal, every year for the last ten years, or its US equivalent in Jackson Hole. You mentioned Davos, but I think Davos is less exclusively focused on economic topics, which...

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A key structural vulnerability from asset management activities is a potential mismatch between the liquidity of fund investments and the redemption frequency of fund units in open-ended funds. In 2017, the FSB published policy recommendations to address structural vulnerabilities in asset management activities. The recommendations relating to liquidity mismatch (“FSB Recommendations”) aimed to: strengthen regulatory reporting and public disclosure to facilitate assessment of liquidity risk in OEFs; promote liquidity management both at the fund design phase and on an ongoing...

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Today, the Commission is proposing rules to make producers responsible for the full lifecycle of textile products and to support the sustainable management of textile waste across the EU. This initiative will accelerate the development of the separate collection, sorting, reuse and recycling sector for textiles in the EU, in line with the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. Increasing the availability of used textiles is expected to create local jobs and save money for consumers in the...

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Today marks the conclusion of Sweden’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. One of the top priorities in the domain of justice has been to contribute to international efforts to ensure accountability for the crimes committed in Ukraine. Eurojust and the Swedish authorities have worked closely together over the past six months and taken important steps towards this common goal. Intensifying efforts to work against impunity for core international crimes was also the theme of this year’s EU...

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Chair Jerome H. Powell at the Banco de Espana Fourth Conference on Financial Stability, Madrid, Spain | 29 June 2023 | Today I will briefly discuss the current economic situation and the stresses that emerged in the U.S. banking system earlier this year. I will then turn to the evolution of the financial system since the Great Recession and conclude with a few general observations. I will highlight how global efforts to boost resilience in the financial sector over the...

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The European Commission has today put forward two proposals to ensure that citizens and businesses can continue to access and pay with euro banknotes and coins across the euro area, and to set out a framework for a possible new digital form of the euro that the European Central Bank may issue in the future, as a complement to cash. The euro continues to be a symbol of Europe's unity and strength. Across the euro area and beyond, for more...

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The digital euro is a necessary step to ensure that our monetary system keeps up with digital advances. It will be widely accessible and easy to use while preserving privacy – just like cash. Our world is changing. Digitalisation has transformed society in ways that would have been difficult to imagine only ten years ago. It is also changing how we make payments: people increasingly want to pay digitally. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this shift. Central banks around the world...

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