Today marks the conclusion of Sweden’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. One of the top priorities in the domain of justice has been to contribute to international efforts to ensure accountability for the crimes committed in Ukraine. Eurojust and the Swedish authorities have worked closely together over the past six months and taken important steps towards this common goal. Intensifying efforts to work against impunity for core international crimes was also the theme of this year’s EU...

Chair Jerome H. Powell at the Banco de Espana Fourth Conference on Financial Stability, Madrid, Spain | 29 June 2023 | Today I will briefly discuss the current economic situation and the stresses that emerged in the U.S. banking system earlier this year. I will then turn to the evolution of the financial system since the Great Recession and conclude with a few general observations. I will highlight how global efforts to boost resilience in the financial sector over the...

The European Commission has today put forward two proposals to ensure that citizens and businesses can continue to access and pay with euro banknotes and coins across the euro area, and to set out a framework for a possible new digital form of the euro that the European Central Bank may issue in the future, as a complement to cash. The euro continues to be a symbol of Europe's unity and strength. Across the euro area and beyond, for more...

The digital euro is a necessary step to ensure that our monetary system keeps up with digital advances. It will be widely accessible and easy to use while preserving privacy – just like cash. Our world is changing. Digitalisation has transformed society in ways that would have been difficult to imagine only ten years ago. It is also changing how we make payments: people increasingly want to pay digitally. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this shift. Central banks around the world...

Financial institutions rely on third-party service providers for a range of services, some of which support their critical operations. These third-party dependencies have grown in recent years as part of the digitalisation of the financial services sector and can bring multiple benefits to financial institutions including flexibility, innovation and improved operational resilience. However, if not properly managed, disruption to critical services or service providers could pose risks to financial institutions and, in some cases, financial stability. In response to concerns over...

The Council adopted today an eleventh package of economic and individual restrictive measures intended to strengthen existing EU sanctions and crack down on their circumvention, thereby further eroding Putin's war machine and his revenues. Our sanctions are already taking a heavy toll on the Russian economy and on the Kremlin’s ability to finance its aggression. Today’s package increases our pressure on Russia and Putin’s war machine. By tackling sanctions circumvention, we will maximise pressure on Russia by depriving it further...

Speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at the Summit for a new global financing pact in Paris | Paris, 23 June 2023 | I am truly honoured to be with you here today at this important summit to address the most pressing issue of our time. Eight years ago in Paris, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened the COP21 by stating that “Paris must mark a turning point ” towards limiting global warming to 1.5 °Celsius. Today, the window of opportunity...