Help people heat homes! Our demonstration at the European Parliament
Today our activists and partners demonstrated in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, calling on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to help people heat homes.
2022 round up: what we achieved together this year
Key activities and moments from the last 12 month
President Lagarde, will it be a Merry Christmas or a Merry Crisis?
2022 has shown how important it is to live in homes that can protect us from the reckless actions of petrostates, and from skyrocketing fossil energy prices. For many families, it will be hard, if not impossible, to enjoy the Christmas period in healthy and comfortable homes. EU institutions, including the European Central Bank (ECB), can make sure that this will be the last Christmas of this kind.
The gift that keeps on giving: Banks’ windfall profits as a consequence of ECB rate hikes
The ECB is expected to pay around €40 billion in net interest income to banks on the overnight deposits that they keep with the central bank. This estimated figure will jump to €53.7 billion if the ECB decides to increase the interest rate on its deposit facility (DF) from the current 1.5% to 2% on December 15. France and Germany expected to profit the most in absolute terms. We provide the implications of these purely accounting-induced profits for the wider banking system and the real economy.
A people’s monetary dialogue: what our supporters want from the ECB
True to our commitment to being the bridge between people and the European Central Bank (ECB), ahead of the last monetary dialogue in June we collaborated with our friends at SumOfUs to collect our supporters’ views, expectations and concerns related to the ECB’s work. The results showed overwhelming support for ambitious and proactive environmental actions by the ECB. They also rang a bell about the need for clearer communication from the Central Bank on the effects of its interest rate hikes.
A more “ethical” ECB on the way?
The ECB’s rule of conduct and ethical framework is still lagging behind the US Federal reserve.