Honourable Mr President, Honourable President of the European Central Bank. It is a pleasure to be here today to discuss with you this very timely report. [ Ссылка ] I would like to thank the rapporteur, Sven Simon, the shadow rapporteurs, and the members of the Committee for your valuable views. The Commission overall agrees with the report.

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We in particular share the view that the ECB's independence in conducting monetary policy is vital for safeguarding price stability.

Like you, we are also concerned about the negative socio-economic impact of the pandemic.

The ECB has used its monetary policy instruments successfully to mitigate those effects.

We welcome the emphasis in the report on the strong complementarity between fiscal and monetary policies during this crisis.

Favourable financing conditions have allowed fiscal impulses to be transmitted across the euro area. And at the same time, national liquidity and income support measures have reduced the risks of impaired monetary policy transmission.

The Commission has supported Members States’ fiscal responses by activating the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact. It will remain active this year.

We will review the situation in the spring. We aim to avoid a premature withdrawal of fiscal support, and plan to strike the right balance between providing the necessary support to the economy and ensuring fiscal sustainability in the medium term.

As of this year, the substantial financing provided by the Recovery and Resilience Facility will provide an additional impulse to our economies. Only the 13% pre-financing amounts to 44 billion euros.

We also need structural reforms to strengthen our growth potential and social cohesion. NextGenerationEU will play a key role in making European economies more resilient and better prepared for the green and digital transitions.

In addition, the report makes significant points on climate change. We welcome the ECB’s increasing focus on climate-related risks and the specific ways that have been identified to address them, including under its supervisory and monetary policy mandates.

The steps taken by the Commission and the ECB against climate change can certainly reinforce each other. I particularly welcome that Christine Lagarde just mentioned about the ECB investing part of its own portfolio in green bonds.

I note too that the ECB referred to objectives set out in the EU Taxonomy Regulation in its decision to accept sustainability-linked bonds as collateral and to make them potentially eligible for asset purchases.

The ECB’s preparatory work on the digital euro project is also welcome: by complementing cash, the digital euro could underpin the digitalisation of the EU economy.

Taking their respective mandates into account, the Commission and the ECB are together reviewing the broad range of policy, legal and technical questions related to the possible introduction of a digital euro. It goes without saying that the European Parliament will play an important role in this process.

Lastly, the report touches on the issue of the euro’s international role.

Promoting a stronger international standing for our common currency is an important element of the Commission’s strategy to stimulate the openness, strength and resilience of the EU’s economic and financial system.

One of its objectives is to support the development of euro-denominated instruments and benchmarks. The euro is already now more attractive to investors thanks to euro-denominated bond issues under SURE and NextGenerationEU.

Again, I welcome your valuable input on this report and look forward to a good debate.
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