MEPs quiz ECB President, focussing on inflation and climate change

On Monday, MEPs quizzed European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, focusing mainly on inflation and climate change.

Delivering her opening statement at her quarterly appearance in front of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs committee, Ms Lagarde explained that the Eurozone economy was likely to remain weak with some signs showing that job growth may slow. However the economic prospects over the next years showed scope for improvement, she added. On inflation, Ms Lagarde pointed out that inflation was now being driven more by domestic sources rather than external ones, with wage pressures now being a more important factor in driving domestic inflation rather than profits. Finally Ms Lagarde outlined the ECB’s actions to help tackle climate change, while insisting that this task is primarily one for national governments.

MEPs concentrated their questioning on the next steps that should be taken to continue reducing inflation while at the same time not affecting people’s every day lives. Some also directed their questions at what more the ECB could do to address climate change while others warned the ECB of the risk of entering the political debate when intervening on this issue. Questions were also asked about the ongoing work to review the EU’s economic governance rules, notably on what the key issues were for the ECB.

You can watch the meeting again here.