Christine Lagarde: Hearing of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament

Introductory statement (by videoconference) by Ms Christine Lagarde President of the European Central Bank, at the Hearing of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, Frankfurt am Main, 15 November 2021.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Accompanying annexes:https://www.bis.org/review/r231121h_annexes.pdf

We are nearing the end of the year, which means that you will soon reach the midway point of this legislative term. For my part, I have just completed the first two years of my mandate at the ECB.

I'm sure that, on taking office, none of us thought that a global pandemic would be at the top of our agendas. But in the face of turbulence, we came together as Europeans and mounted an unprecedented response to protect people's lives and livelihoods.

The challenge is not over yet. Not only the course of the pandemic, but also the decisions taken by policymakers will continue to determine the strength of the recovery. And that is why our regular hearings are so important.