European Central Bank – annual report 2024

Wording as published by the EP, in English.

1. Amendment 2Rejected

   Paragraph 26 a (new)

   Tabled by Jussi Saramo · The Left

   Added: 26a. Highlights the expected benefits of a public digital euro, such as improved financial inclusion, enhanced resilience of the payment system, reduced costs for merchants, and a reliable offline backup payment system; expresses concern, at the same time, about the dependence of the European payment system on non-European payment service providers;

2. Amendment 3Rejected

   Paragraph 39 a (new)

   Tabled by Jussi Saramo · The Left

   Added: 39a. Highlights the need for an environmentally sustainable monetary policy in the form of, for example, green refinancing operations;

3. Amendment 6Adopted

   Paragraph 28

   Tabled by Denis Nesci, Johan Van Overtveldt · ECR

   28. Reiterates that Removed: the digital euro will serve as complement to physical cash, that it should not replace cash and that cash will Added: cash should remain widely available and accessible at all times in order to ensure …

4. Amendment 17Rejected

   Recital -A a (new)

   Tabled by João Oliveira · The Left

   Added: Aa. whereas the increases in reference interest rates determined by the ECB have had and continue to have damaging effects on the solvency of households, microenterprises and SMEs in countries where variable interest rates prevail;

5. Amendment 18Rejected

   Recital A a (new)

   Tabled by João Oliveira · The Left

   Added: Aa. whereas, in countries such as Spain, Portugal and Finland, variable-rate mortgages were particularly popular when consumers acquired their homes in the past; whereas those consumers were immediately affected by interest rate rises; whereas consumers with fixed-rate loans, on the other hand, only feel the impact of interest rate rises later and under certain conditions; whereas such variations within the euro area means that the transmission of monetary policy decisions is likely to be quicker in countries that have a higher percentage of variable-rate loans1c; whereas the situation has contributed to difficulties accessing housing in some countries1d; 1c Baldassarri, Lorenzo, et al., ‘Monetary Policy Transmission: Why Consumers’ Housing Situations Matter’, European Central Bank, 3 October 2024 (www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2024/html/ecb.blog20241003~44069e813f.en.html). 1d Igan, Deniz, ‘The Housing Affordability Crunch’, IMF, 3 December 2024 (www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2024/12/thehousingaffordabilitycrunchdenizigan).

6. Amendment 19Rejected

   Recital A b (new)

   Tabled by João Oliveira · The Left

   Added: Ab. whereas a recent study by the International Monetary Fund1e shows that the pass-through of increased interest rates to consumers and businesses by the banking sector has been very heterogeneous, taking into account the sector concentration, the type of mortgage rate and the amount of mortgage borrowing families have, among other factors; 1e Beyer, R., Chen, R., Li, C., Misch, F., Ozturk, E., and Ratnovski, L., ‘Monetary Policy PassThrough to Interest Rates: Stylized Facts from 30 European Countries’, IMF working paper (WP/24/9), 2024.

7. Amendment 20Rejected

   Recital A c (new)

   Tabled by João Oliveira · The Left

   Added: Ac. whereas the dividends of European banks alone have exceeded pre-2008 levels and the rewards for shareholders are even greater if share buybacks are taken into account1f; 1f Foy, Simon, ‘European banks to reward investors with bumper €123bn in payouts’, Financial Times, 23 January 2025 (www.ft.com/content/cfe4c11303b54cd5b61f1c5d7e98e281).

8. Amendment 21Rejected

   Recital A d (new)

   Tabled by João Oliveira · The Left

   Added: Ad. whereas reference interest rate rises increase financial margins in the banking sector, especially where the greatest sector concentration can be found;

9. Amendment 22Rejected

   Paragraph 1 a (new)

   Tabled by João Oliveira · The Left

   Added: 1a. Considers it imperative that the European Central Bank swiftly reverses the reference interest rate rises;

10. Amendment 23Rejected

    Paragraph 1 b (new)

    Tabled by João Oliveira · The Left

    Added: 1b. Takes the view that, in the immediate future, banking sector profits should be used to cover of the impact of higher reference interest rates on mortgages;

11. Amendment 26Rejected

    Paragraph 18

    Tabled by Auke Zijlstra, Jorge Martín Frías, Paolo Borchia · PfE

    18. Stresses that supply shocks, primarily originating from Removed: external sources, Added: irresponsible government policies, such as over-reliance on energy from unstable and unpredictable sources such as wind and solar, as well as political aversion to stable onshore energy sources, and worrying geopolitical developments, were among the key drivers of the inflation surges; recognises that monetary …

12. Amendment 27Rejected

    Paragraph 26

    Tabled by Auke Zijlstra, Enikő Győri, Jorge Martín Frías +1 · PfE

    26. Removed: Welcomes the ECB’s progress on the digital euro project and its Added: Notes that the US President Donald Trump has recently issued a ‘digital financial technology’ executive order terminating all federal agencies’ work on a digital US dollar; recalls that the Bank of Canada, the Swedish Riksbank and the Danish Nationalbank have also discontinued their work on their respective central bank digital currencies (CBDCs); calls on the ECB and the Commission to take these developments into account in the ongoing preparatory process and in their ongoing dialogue with Parliament; Removed: underscores that the digital euro should deliver clear added value to European citizens, including enhanced strategic autonomy in payments, a higher level of competition in the retail payment market, potential to foster innovation in payments and finance, improved financial inclusion and a reliable offline backup payment system; calls on the ECB to clearly communicate these benefits in order to foster public trust and awareness; notes that the EU co-legislators will need to strike the right balance, among others, on holding limits, privacy concerns, competition with private payment solutions and usability in a business context;

13. Amendment 29Rejected

    Paragraph 39

    Tabled by Auke Zijlstra, Enikő Győri, Jorge Martín Frías +1 · PfE

    … its available tools to ensure that banks take all financial and external Removed: risks, including climate and geopolitical risks, seriously; Added: risks seriously, including geopolitical risks and risks resulting from negative effects of the Green Deal on prices, in particular of commodities, and negative effects on employment that may arise if an unpragmatic approach is taken to the digital and green transition; welcomes the ECB’s activities to further enhance the Eurosystem’s risk assessment tools and capabilities in order to better include Removed: climate- and environment-related risks, particularly because climate change and extreme weather phenomena could lead to greater price volatility, Added: environment-related risks, in so far as they are properly quantified, especially in the agri-food sector; Removed: 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;

14. Amendment 30Rejected

    Paragraph 13 a (new)

    Tabled by Bas Eickhout · Verts/ALE

    Added: 13a. Agrees with the ECB President’s statement that ‘investment in renewables, grids and storage will lead to lower and more stable energy prices’; underlines that reducing the EU’s dependence on imported fossil fuels and supporting domestically generated renewable energy will reduce the magnitude of energy-related price shocks, reinforcing EU competitiveness while contributing to the ECB’s price stability mandate; stresses, therefore, the convergence of price stability, climate and competitiveness objectives; invites the ECB to reflect on the synergies between monetary and energy policies in this regard;

15. Amendment 32Rejected

    Paragraph 36

    Tabled by Bas Eickhout · Verts/ALE

    36. Removed: Insists that the ECB respect the market neutrality approach in its monetary operations; Added: Notes the ECB’s acknowledgement that market neutrality is a voluntary operational tool, rather than a legal requirement;

16. Amendment 41Adopted

    Paragraph 26 a (new)

    Tabled by Marco Falcone · PPE

    Added: 26a. Demands that any decision to issue the digital euro should not be taken exclusively by the Governing Council of the ECB; considers, instead, that the decision on whether or not to introduce a digital euro is ultimately a political decision that has to be taken by the EU’s legislators, given the profound potential impact of this decision on a wide range of EU domains, including privacy, consumer protection, financial stability, financial policy and other areas that go beyond the strict remit of monetary policy;