Changes from plenary report to adopted text

26. Reminds the ECB to devote a specific chapter in its annual report to explaining how it has interpreted and acted upon its secondary objectives and its potential impact on the primary mandate;

27. Notes that the ECB, as an EU institution, acting within its mandate, is bound by the EU’s commitments under the Paris Agreement; encourages the ECB to continue to assess the extent to which climate change potentially affects its ability to maintain price stability;

28. Welcomes the ECB’s announcement of further enhancements to the Eurosystem’s risk assessment tools and capabilities in order to better include climate- and environment-related risks, particularly because climate change and extreme weather phenomena could lead to greater price volatility, especially in the agri-food sector; invites the ECB to continue its work on climate risk stress tests developed to assess the resilience of banks and corporations in the face of climate transition risk;

29. Notes the ECB’s action plan and its detailed road map of climate-change-related actions to further incorporate climate-change considerations into its policy framework and models; notes that the climate roadmap does not include targeted longer-term green refinancing operations or similar instruments;

30. Underlines the importance of the European Pillar of Social Rights for socio-economic convergence; points out that these objectives are best achieved when the social market economy operates in a stable macroeconomic environment based on predictable price levels;

Other aspects

31. Draws attention to the steady divergence of TARGET2 balances within the ESCB; fears that this may give rise to conflict in the future; notes that the interpretation of these divergences is contested;

32. Welcomes the attention that the ECB pays to the risks of cyberattacks; encourages the ECB to maintain this awareness, especially in the light of the current geopolitical context; calls for the ECB not to relax its monitoring of the development of new types of digital assets, such as crypto-assets, namely cryptocurrencies and the related risks in terms of cybersecurity, money laundering, tax fraud, terrorist financing and other criminal activities related to the anonymity provided by crypto-assets, calls in this regard on the ECB to maintain its commitment to the resilience of its digital infrastructure;

33. Takes note of the ECB’s progress on the digital euro project and welcomes its dialogue with Parliament in this regard; reiterates that, with a view to the EU’s being at the forefront of digital transformations in the payments sector, a digital euro must respect competition in the banking and digital payments landscape; underlines that a digital euro must not replace cash as means of payment, must respect the privacy of citizens and businesses and must not endanger financial stability; considers that the digital euro will only become a success if it offers tangible added value that is clearly communicated to European citizens; recalls that the introduction of the digital euro depends on a decision of the European Parliament and the Council as co-legislators;

34. Shares the ECB’s concern regarding the rise of the shadow banking sector and the risks it may pose to financial stability; stresses the need for adequate regulation of non-bank financial intermediaries, which allow the sector to compete on an equal footing with the banking sector;

35. Welcomes the Basel III framework, as it will strengthen the resilience of the banking sector; warns of the risk of non-compliance; echoes the ECB’s concerns in this respect; stresses that bank supervision should be risk-based; underlines the importance of an international level playing field and the competitiveness of European banks;

36. Notes that the ECB adapts its systems to technological developments such as the integration of artificial intelligence into its data processing and analysis models to help improve monetary analysis and decision-making; stresses that all those developments should always be made within safety parameters to avoid operational risks;

Accountability

37. Welcomes the formalisation, in writing, of the current accountability practices between the ECB and Parliament; acknowledges the ECB’s openness and availability to Parliament; invites the ECB and Parliament to make full use of the accountability and transparency arrangements and, where possible, further enhance these arrangements, without prejudice to the ECB’s independence;

38. Suggests that the ECB create an internal evaluation office for ex post assessment of its policy decisions, without infringing on the ECB’s independence;

39. Welcomes the ECB’s substantial and detailed feedback on Parliament’s resolution on the 2021 ECB annual report; calls on the ECB to maintain this commitment to accountability and transparency, and to continue publishing its written feedback on Parliament’s resolutions on the ECB annual reports every year;

40. Observes that only two members of the ECB’s Executive Board and Governing Council are women; calls on the euro area’s Member States to do their part and incorporate the principle of gender equality in their appointment processes in order to ensure equal opportunities for all genders for the position of governor of national central banks;

41. Notes that the latest available statistics on gender imbalance across the organisational structure of the ECB indicate that the share of women in all ECB management positions has risen; invites the ECB to continue its work to strengthen the equal opportunities for all genders in its organisation;

42. Welcomes the ECB’s new communication policy, which includes more accessible ways of explaining and presenting ECB policy decisions to citizens and stakeholders and invites the ECB to further enhance its communication about central bank policy objectives and crisis responses;

43. Notes the recent appointment of the new Chair of the Supervisory Board and reminds the ECB to take better account of and respect the European Parliament’s prerogatives in future appointment procedures, in particular in relation to the Single Supervisory Mechanism;

44. Underlines the importance of the ECB ethics framework and the Code of Conduct, as they form a safeguard for the integrity of the ECB and act as the basis for public trust and ultimately for the ECB’s credibility; notes that this framework guides ECB staff and high level officials on how to deal with lobbyists; invites the ECB to regularly re-examine the framework in this regard;

45. Invites the ECB to engage in a dialogue with national parliaments, while strictly respecting its political independence; believes that this would strengthen the legitimacy and policies of the ECB;

46. Calls on the ECB to bring its internal whistleblowing framework into line with the EU Whistleblower Directive;

°

° °

47. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the European Central Bank.