On 15 October, Klaas Knot delivered a speech at the 37th Annual G30 International Banking Seminar. Shocks are hitting the euro area economy. A mixture of global shocks has set-off high inflation. The pandemic first caused supply chain restrictions, pushing up inflation, which was subsequently reinforced by pent-up demand. This strong demand shock effect in the first half of this year has been an upside surprise for central banks. A similar pattern can be observed in the energy crisis as a result of the war in Ukraine. The disrupted energy supply is a classic negative supply shock leading to elevated energy prices. Governments have responded with extensive fiscal measures, which support demand. If the scope of the support measures is too broad, they will fuel inflation. Continue reading…

Following dialogues with the Commission and the network of national consumer protection (CPC) authorities, multinational e-commerce business Shopify has committed to making several improvements to make shopping safer for customers, bringing it in line with EU rules. The dialogue first originated following the receipt of numerous complaints, which peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic, through the European Consumer Centres. The complaints mainly related to web stores hosted by the platform, found to have engaged in illegal practices, such as making fake offers and fake scarcity claims, supplying counterfeit goods or not providing their contact details. The Commission, together with the CPC, and led by Belgium’s Directorate General for Economic Inspection, launched a dialogue with Shopify in July 2021, aimed at introducing changes to address the illegal practices of traders in its platform. Continue reading…

Specialised public prosecutors from the United States and EU Member States will step up their cooperation to tackle major cross-border and intercontinental environmental crime. During a dedicated liaison meeting, hosted by Eurojust, officials devised a process to set environmental crime priorities for operational action, criminal intelligence sharing, and developing cooperation tools and mechanisms to exchange information and best practices. Continue reading…

The European Central Bank (ECB) has on 19 September published further details on how it aims to gradually decarbonise the corporate bond holdings in its monetary policy portfolios, on a path aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. One goal is to reduce the Eurosystem’s exposure to climate-related financial risk, following the Governing Council’s July 2022 decision to tilt the Eurosystem’s corporate bond purchases towards issuers with a better climate performance. Furthermore, these measures support the green transition of the economy in line with the EU’s climate neutrality objectives. Continue reading…

On 19 September, the Commission is presenting the new Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI). This crisis governance framework aims to preserve the free movement of goods, services and persons and the availability of essential goods and services in the event of future emergencies, to the benefit of citizens and businesses across the EU. While the Single Market has proven to be our best asset in crisis management, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted structural shortcomings hampering the EU’s ability to effectively respond to emergency situations in a coordinated manner. Unilateral measures caused fragmentation, worsening the crisis and affecting particularly SMEs. Continue reading…

The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – ESAs) have on 12 September issued their Autumn 2022 joint risk report. The report highlights that the deteriorating economic outlook, high inflation and rising energy prices have increased vulnerabilities across the financial sectors. The ESAs advise national supervisors, financial institutions and market participants to prepare for challenges ahead. Continue reading…

by Michal Pleticha

The Czech Republic is at a crossroad in deciding how to regulate disinformation. In order to adopt the Strategy to Combat Disinformation (see Part I.), it’s necessary for the Government to draft and push a large number of amendments through both chambers of the Czech Parliament and the Presidential Office. Since disinformation is a sensitive political subject, capable of deepening the current split in politics and society, it could be the beginning of fierce political battle. Continue reading…

by Daniel Vaknine

Although whistleblowing is often represented as huge scandals in the media or on TV, it is often not quite as dramatic in reality. The majority of whistleblower cases are handled internally and concern the incorrect treatment of employees or negative working conditions. However, there have been huge scandals that have occurred at very large corporate companies. Scandals that could have been prevented with the help of whistleblowing. In this post, we therefore take a closer look at 3 occasions that whistleblowing could have made a difference. Continue reading…

by Michal Pleticha

A threatening phenomenon appeared in Czech society: another desperate family discovers that one of its members became a different person. Someone who literally detached himself from reality and became an angry and hostile person with an aggressive attitude to common topics of conversation. It is likely that such a person succumbed to the phenomenon of “disinformation”, which changed his perception of reality and his personality. He is obsessed with the delusion of the “hidden truth” which comes up on the surface only thanks to the uncensored free media (meaning specialised websites, social media groups and citizen journalists. Well-established and quality public media are allegedly censored and spread only lies and manipulation. Continue reading…

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Citigroup Global Markets Limited (Citigroup Global Markets) £12,553,800 for failing to properly implement the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) trade surveillance requirements relating to the detection of market abuse. By failing to properly implement the MAR trade surveillance requirements, Citigroup Global Markets could not effectively monitor its trading activities for certain types of insider dealing and market manipulation. 

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