Upside risks to the inflation outlook remain large, and more aggressive tightening may be needed if these risks materialize. Central banks in major economies expected as recently as a few months ago that they could tighten monetary policy very gradually. Inflation seemed to be driven by an unusual mix of supply shocks associated with the pandemic and later Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it was expected to decline rapidly once these pressures eased. Now, with inflation climbing to multi-decade highs and...

In an effort to increase EU security of energy supply, member states today reached a political agreement on a voluntary reduction of natural gas demand by 15% this winter. The Council regulation also foresees the possibility to trigger a ‘Union alert’ on security of supply, in which case the gas demand reduction would become mandatory. The purpose of the gas demand reduction is to make savings ahead of winter in order to prepare for possible disruptions of gas supplies from...

"Check against delivery" Thank you Jozef. Dear Ministers We saw during the pandemic, the COVID crisis, that if the EU comes together and we act together we are collectively so much stronger than the sum of 27 Member States. We also saw during that crisis that also here, Putin tried to divide and rule. And prove that we were not capable to do that, that he had a better vaccine and all of that. And it has turned out very differently. He...

NIST is posting two draft Special Publications (SP) on the Enterprise Impact of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Risk, with a public comment period open through September 6, 2022. The increasing dependency on ICT means that all enterprises must ensure ICT risks receive the appropriate attention along with other risk disciplines –legal, financial, etc. – within their enterprise risk management (ERM) programs. These documents and resources are intended to help ICT risk practitioners at all levels of the enterprise, in...

Today, the EU has taken a decisive step to face down the threat of a full gas disruption by Putin. I strongly welcome the endorsement by Council of the Council Regulation on coordinated demand reduction measures for gas. The political agreement reached by Council in record time, based on the Commission's proposal “Save gas for a safe winter” tabled last week, will ensure an orderly and coordinated reduction of gas consumption across the EU to prepare for the coming winter....

The European Union faces the risk of further gas supply cuts from Russia, due to the Kremlin's weaponisation of gas exports, with almost half of our Member States already affected by reduced deliveries.  Taking action now can reduce both the risk and the costs for Europe in case of further or full disruption, strengthening European energy resilience. The Commission is therefore proposing today a new legislative tool and a European Gas Demand Reduction Plan, to reduce gas use in Europe...

'The partial shutoff of gas deliveries is already affecting European growth, and a full shutdown could be substantially more severe.' Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has further darkened the global growth outlook, with the European economy facing a serious setback given trade, investment, and financial links with the warring countries. Now, Europe is enduring a partial cutoff of natural gas exports from Russia, its largest energy supplier. The prospect of an unprecedented total shutoff is fueling concern about gas shortages, still...