Speech by Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, at the International Federation of Accountants’ Chief Executives Forum Introduction It is a pleasure to be taking part in the International Federation of Accountants’ Chief Executives Forum today. In line with the topic of the event, I will reflect on the risks and uncertainty that threaten financial stability and their implications for policymakers. I will be brief to allow enough time to take your questions. Conceptually, risk is associated with situations where the exact...

Read more

President Trump's announcement of universal tariffs on the whole world, including the EU, is a major blow to the world economy. I deeply regret this choice. Let's be clear-eyed about the immense consequences. The global economy will massively suffer. Uncertainty will spiral and trigger the rise of further protectionism. The consequences will be dire for millions of people around the globe. Also for the most vulnerable countries, which are now subject to some of the highest US tariffs. The opposite of what we want to achieve. The...

Read more

Speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, on the occasion of the conferral of the Sutherland Leadership Award in Dublin, Ireland It is an honour to receive the Sutherland Leadership Award. There are moments in history when things that were once set in stone become fluid. Institutions, norms and alliances that seemed timeless can suddenly be remade. These moments typically come only once in a generation. Peter Sutherland faced such a juncture when the Cold War ended. The collapse of the...

Read more

The Commission has presented ProtectEU, a new European internal security strategy to support EU countries in guaranteeing security for its citizens. It sets out a workplan with a stronger legal framework, better information sharing and closer cooperation.  To address increasing security and hybrid threats like terrorism, organised crime, cybercrime, and attacks on critical infrastructure, Europe needs to review its approach to internal security. The strategy aims to adopt a whole-of-society approach that includes citizens, businesses, researchers, and civil society who can contribute to better safety...

Read more

Today, the European Commission is revising the EU's cohesion policy to better support EU competitiveness and decarbonisation, defence and security, the Eastern border regions as well as affordable housing, water resilience, and the energy transition. The objective of this initiative is to make cohesion policy more effective, by encouraging Member States and regions to invest in the European strategic priorities, while maintaining the focus of cohesion policy on reducing economic, social and territorial disparities. Member States will be invited to...

Read more

Welcome address by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at the ECB conference on “The transformative power of AI: economic implications and challenges” in Frankfurt, Germany. It is a pleasure to welcome you to our conference on the transformative power of AI. In the early stages of a new technological breakthrough, it is often hard to discern fact from fiction. We struggle to imagine the ways in which the new technology will be used. And even if we predict the direction...

Read more