News 25 February 2020 10:00 AM

ECB kick-starts Eurosystem listening events for strategy review

  • Euro area citizens are invited to submit ideas and comments online
  • “ECB Listens” event for civil society to take place in Brussels on 26 March
  • Further Eurosystem listening events to follow, organised by national central banks

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the 19 euro area national central banks, which together form the Eurosystem, are inviting euro area citizens and organisations to contribute ideas and comments on the way the central bank conducts its monetary policy within the framework set out by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The ECB is launching dedicated web pages to explain the review process, together with an online form which citizens can use to submit proposals and comments in euro area languages.

The ECB launched its strategy review on 23 January with the aim of soliciting ideas and comments from the widest possible public and better understanding how other considerations such as financial stability, employment and environmental sustainability can be relevant in pursuing the ECB’s mandate.

To this end, it is inviting civil society organisations to a series of Eurosystem listening events, the first of which will be held in Brussels on 26 March and be chaired by ECB President Christine Lagarde.

“We want to listen to the views, expectations and concerns of the public with an open mind”, said President Lagarde.

Representatives of a wide range of regional and consumer organisations, as well as social partners, will have the opportunity to share their views on the ECB’s policies. This conference kicks off a series of events hosted in all 19 euro area countries, which will be organised by the national central banks of the Eurosystem.

The ECB will also hold listening events with academics (starting with the ECB and its Watchers conference in Frankfurt on 24 March) and financial sector participants, as well as continuing its ongoing dialogue with the European Parliament.

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