Piero Cipollone: Europe’s Money Evolves so People’s Freedom to Pay Remains
ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone told the European Parliament that the digital euro and cash will be treated as a single legal‑tender package, reinforcing payment freedom across the euro area. He announced three new agreements with European standard‑setting bodies to lock in open, EU‑owned technical standards for the digital euro. The ECB also closed a call for pilot participants, receiving over 50 applications from a mix of banks and payment service providers, with selections due in July and a pilot slated for late 2027. Finally, new euro banknote designs featuring European culture or nature themes are slated for issuance in the early 2030s using sustainable materials.
Boris Vujčić: A European Perspective on Currency and Convergence
ECB Vice‑President Boris Vujčić highlighted the euro area’s growth to 21 members, serving over 350 million people, and reaffirmed the importance of the Maastricht convergence criteria and the ERM II mechanism. He illustrated how diverse economies—from the Baltic states to Croatia and...
Luis De Guindos: Interview with Expansión
In a May 2026 interview, ECB Vice‑President Luis de Guindos reflected on eight turbulent years marked by a pandemic, the Ukraine war, soaring inflation and rising geopolitical risk. He warned that supply‑chain shocks now drive inflation and growth, leaving rate‑policy decisions firmly...
Luis De Guindos: Financial Stability Review - May 2026
ECB’s May 2026 Financial Stability Review warns that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on energy infrastructure have triggered a severe geoeconomic shock, raising energy prices and stoking inflation across the euro‑area. While banks have bolstered capital and...
European Central Bank and Reserve Bank of India Sign Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation
The European Central Bank and the Reserve Bank of India signed a new Memorandum of Understanding on May 10, 2026, updating their 2015 cooperation framework. The agreement, sealed on the sidelines of the BIS meeting in Basel, creates a structured channel for...
Christine Lagarde: Stablecoins and the Future of Money: Separating Functions From Instruments
Christine Lagarde warned that stablecoins, now over $300 billion in value, are reshaping both monetary demand and settlement infrastructure. While the EU’s MiCAR framework brings them under regulation, the speech highlighted that most stablecoins are US‑dollar pegged and dominated by Tether...
Isabel Schnabel: The Quiet Erosion of Central Bank Independence
In a May 2026 Charles Goodhart lecture, ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel warned that central‑bank independence is being eroded by two structural forces: rising sovereign debt that creates fiscal dominance and a push toward financial deregulation that breeds financial dominance....
New Data Release: ECB Wage Tracker Indicates Negotiated Wage Pressures Stable in 2026
The European Central Bank released its May 2026 wage‑tracker update, covering collective‑bargaining agreements through mid‑April. The headline tracker, which smooths one‑off payments, shows negotiated wage growth of 2.3% for 2026, while the unsmoothed version indicates 2.6% and the version excluding one‑off...
Results of the ECB Survey of Professional Forecasters for the Second Quarter of 2026
The European Central Bank’s second‑quarter 2026 Survey of Professional Forecasters shows headline HICP inflation expectations nudged up to 2.7% for 2026 and core inflation to 2.2% for the near term, while longer‑term rates remain at 2.0%. Real GDP growth expectations...
Monetary Policy Decisions
On 30 April 2026 the ECB Governing Council kept its three key rates unchanged – the deposit facility at 2.00 %, the main refinancing operation at 2.15 % and the marginal lending facility at 2.40 %. The council said inflation remains near its 2 % target...
Philip R. Lane: Expanding the Supply of Euro Safe Assets
In a Frankfurt keynote, ECB Executive Board member Philip R. Lane warned that the euro area suffers from a chronic undersupply of euro‑denominated safe assets, with German Bunds alone too small to meet global demand. He outlined reforms that have...
Christine Lagarde: The Energy Shock: Where We Stand and What We Need to Know
ECB President Christine Lagarde warned that the ongoing conflict in the Strait of Hormuz has created the largest oil‑supply disruption in history, cutting roughly 13 million barrels per day—about 13% of global consumption. She highlighted the uncertainty over the shock’s duration...
Europe's Successes and the Path Forward
Isabel Schnabel, ECB Executive Board member, highlighted that the euro area has restored macro stability, with inflation back at target and steady real GDP growth since 2017, while financial markets have become more integrated and banks have improved capital ratios...
Meeting of 18-19 March 2026
The ECB Governing Council met on 18‑19 March 2026 and flagged a sharp uptick in inflation risk after the Middle‑East war drove Brent crude above $100 a barrel and pushed European gas prices up 52%. Market participants now price roughly...
ECB to Open Its Doors for the Night of the Museums on 25 April 2026
On 25 April 2026 the European Central Bank will open the historic Grossmarkthalle and its adjoining public areas for Frankfurt’s Night of the Museums. Visitors can join two guided tours—one focused on the ECB’s contemporary art collection and the other on the...