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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Framework assesses security and efficiency of electronic payments, including electronic wallets and crypto-asset-related services ECB calls for swift progress on overseeing global digital payment solutions and stablecoins Overseen companies to adhere to new principles within one year The ECB’s Governing Council has approved a new oversight framework for electronic payments following a public consultation. The framework is designed to make the current and future payments ecosystem safer and more efficient, as part of the ECB’s statutory task to promote...

To continue playing its role as the anchor of the monetary system, central bank money will need to respond to evolving needs, says Executive Board member Fabio Panetta. This means that we must intensify the work on central bank digital currencies. Just as the postage stamp became less relevant with the arrival of the internet and email, so too could cash lose relevance in a digital economy. The use of cash in payments is declining as people increasingly prefer to...

With more than a century of consumer protection experience under our belt, we at the FTC know that hard times for American families can be boom times for scammers. Today’s COVID-19 pandemic is the latest crisis creating fertile ground for fraud – and scammers today have a new and powerful weapon: social media platforms. These platforms generally earn their revenue by targeting users with advertising. The more time we spend on platforms consuming content and revealing valuable personal information,...