Interview with Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, published as an article by Eshe Nelson entitled “Are Big Profits Keeping Prices High? Some Central Bankers Are Concerned.” in The New York Times, 31 March 2023 | After months of fretting about whether workers’ rising pay would keep inflation uncomfortably high, central bankers in Europe have another concern: large company profits. Companies that push up their prices above and beyond what is necessary to absorb higher costs could be fueling...

The Council and the Parliament negotiators today reached a provisional political agreement to raise the share of renewable energy in the EU’s overall energy consumption to 42.5% by 2030 with an additional 2.5% indicative top up that would allow to reach 45%. Each member state will contribute to this common target. This provisional political agreement will now need to be endorsed by both institutions. The Council and Parliament negotiators provisionally agreed on more ambitious sector-specific targets in transport, industry, buildings and...

Today, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Directive making it easier for companies to expand the use of digital tools and processes in EU company law. The proposal aims to facilitate cross-border companies' operations and to increase business transparency and trust by making more information about companies publicly available at EU level. It will also cut red tape for cross-border businesses, saving around €‎437 million of administrative burden per year, thanks to an EU Company Certificate or...

Interview with Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted on 22 March by Kolja Rudzio | 29 March 2023 | In recent weeks, banks have collapsed in the US and Switzerland. Could the same happen in the eurozone? Let me first strongly emphasise that what we’re seeing in the euro area in terms of tensions is a spillover from the US and from Switzerland. And please remember that we had a severe banking crisis in the...

In 2022 the ECB conducted a climate risk stress test of the Eurosystem balance sheet as part of its action plan to include climate change considerations in its monetary policy strategy. The aims of this exercise were to (i) analyse the sensitivity of the Eurosystem’s financial risk profile to climate change; and (ii) enhance the Eurosystem’s climate risk assessment capabilities. The scope of the exercise covered a number of the Eurosystem’s monetary policy portfolios, namely its holdings of corporate...

Countries around the world are examining whether they should offer central bank money to the public not only as banknotes and coins, but also in digital form. The fact that the majority of central banks around the world have already started exploring the possibility of launching a state-owned digital currency comes as a response to the increased adoption of digital, contactless payments, cryptocurrencies and e-commerce, further accelerated by  Covid-19, b and also due to the possibilities offered by these digital...

The EU Commission welcomes the political agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council to boost the number of publicly accessible electric recharging and hydrogen refuelling stations in particular across the European Union's main transport corridors and hubs. This is a landmark agreement that will enable the transition to zero-emission transport and contribute to our target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. The new Regulation for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (AFIR)...

More than €1.1 billion in finance to be mobilised in sustainable projects, supported by €150 million in InvestEU guarantees Under the InvestEU programme, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and European Commission work together to help various EU countries in reaching their full green potential New investments to boost green and sustainable projects in the municipal, transport and energy sectors Funds to benefit Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia On...