Keynote speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at the ECB Legal Conference 2021 | Frankfurt am Main, 26 November 2021 | Introduction Ladies and gentlemen, The first President of the European Commission, Walter Hallstein, famously said that the European Union is a “community of law” – an expression which was then picked up by the European Court of Justice in its judgments. The rule of law is one of the basic principles of our Union, and one we have to defend...

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Interview with Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, conducted by Gerald Braunberger, Dennis Kremer and Christian Siedenbiedel on 23 November and published on 26 November 2021 | Madame Lagarde, inflation rates are increasing around the world. Inflation in the United States is 6.2%, while in Germany a rate of close to 6% is expected for November. Is inflation spiralling out of control? At the European Central Bank we are of course monitoring that very closely. And not only because our primary...

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Today, the European Commission has proposed to update the rules on coordination of safe and free movement in the EU, which were put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the summer, vaccine uptake has increased significantly and the EU Digital COVID Certificate has been rolled out successfully, with more than 650 million certificates issued to date. At the same time, the epidemiological situation in the EU continues to develop with some Member States taking additional public health...

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Today, the European Commission has launched the 2022 European Semester cycle of economic policy coordination. The European Semester Autumn Package includes the Annual Sustainable Growth Survey, Opinions on euro area Draft Budgetary Plans (DBPs) for 2022, policy recommendations for the euro area and the Commission's proposal for a Joint Employment Report. The package draws upon the Autumn 2021 Economic Forecast which noted that the European economy is moving from recovery to expansion but is now facing new headwinds. Annual Sustainable Growth Survey This year's...

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On November 17, 2021, the European Union Delegation to the United States partnered with the European American Chamber of Commerce – New York (EACCNY) to convene a webinar to discuss how Europe’s Recovery and Resilience Facility – its largest investment package ever – will put Europe’s economic rebound on a solid footing by promoting green and digital transitions while supporting structural reforms that should boost long-term growth and productivity. The discussion explored the momentum behind the region’s economic recovery and provided analytical context to the...

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Federal bank regulatory agencies today issued a statement summarizing their interagency "policy sprints" focused on crypto-assets and providing a roadmap of future work related to crypto-assets. In particular, the statement describes the focus of the preliminary work conducted through the sprints undertaken by the agencies. It summarizes the agencies' plan to provide greater clarity throughout 2022 on whether certain crypto-related activities conducted by banking organizations are legally permissible, and related expectations for safety and soundness, consumer protection, and compliance with...

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