July 2025
25 July 2025
Monetary policy
Monetary policy strategy update
On 25 June 2025 the Governing Council approved the results of its 2025 monetary policy strategy assessment, following up on the strategy review conducted in 2020-21. The outcome of this assessment is summarised in a press release available on the ECB’s website together with the updated monetary policy strategy statement and the updated overview note, as well as the underlying documentation released in the form of two ECB occasional papers. A press conference was also held on 30 June 2025 in Sintra by ECB President Christine Lagarde and ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane to explain the outcome of this update on the occasion of the ECB Forum on Central Banking.
Market operations
Postponement of the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)-linked eligibility criterion in the Eurosystem collateral framework
On 17 July 2025 the Governing Council decided to postpone the implementation of the requirement to comply with the EU’s CSRD as an eligibility criterion in the Eurosystem collateral framework for all collateral from corporate issuers or debtors within the scope of the CSRD. This decision is a result of the incomplete transposition of the CSRD by the initial deadline of July 2024 and the ongoing discussions around the review of its substantive content in the context of the European Commission’s Omnibus simplification package, both of which make a timely and orderly implementation of the CSRD-related eligibility criterion unlikely in the very near future. A new timeline for the implementation of this requirement will be communicated in due course.
Suspension of the publication of the autonomous factor forecast
On 18 July 2025 the Governing Council approved changes to the process for the preparation and publication of the autonomous factor forecast. In particular, the Governing Council decided to suspend the publication of the autonomous factor forecast on the announcement days of the main refinancing operation until further notice. This change, which aims at enhancing operational efficiency by discarding obsolete procedures, will apply as of 28 July 2025.
Macroprudential policy and financial stability
Governing Council statement on macroprudential policy
On 4 July 2025 the Governing Council approved a statement, subsequently published on the ECB’s website, following a meeting of the Macroprudential Forum on 25 June 2025. Against the background of risks to euro area financial stability having increased since last year due to a sharp rise in global geopolitical uncertainty, the statement highlights the need for national authorities to maintain the current resilience of the banking system and for macroprudential policy to remain agile and adapt to changing conditions as needed; policymakers, meanwhile, need to continue to closely monitor the situation.
Market infrastructure and payments
TARGET Annual Report 2024
On 26 June 2025 the Governing Council took note of the TARGET Annual Report 2024. The report provides information on system traffic and performance, and the main developments that took place in both TARGET2 and T2 in 2024, which was the first full year of operation of the consolidated TARGET Services. It also includes seven boxes on topics of particular relevance in 2024, including non-bank payment service providers’ access to TARGET Services, the adjustments made to the T2 statistical reporting framework, the preparatory work on shortening the settlement cycle to T+1 in the EU, TARGET Services and data protection, multi-currency capability of T2 and TIPS, interlinking TIPS with other instant payment systems, and the Eurosystem’s exploratory work on new technologies for wholesale central bank money. The report is available on the ECB’s website.
Status of the action plan to address 2020 TARGET Services incidents
On 26 June 2025 the Governing Council took note of the latest implementation status of the action plan to address the findings and recommendations of an independent review following TARGET Services incidents in 2020. Key market stakeholders were directly informed about the progress made in the context of their regular meetings with the ECB. Considering the progress made (with only one action still to be implemented out of the 155 actions recommended) and the fact that the Eurosystem/ESCB Internal Auditors Committee would monitor the work done to address the remaining recommendation, the Governing Council decided that this annual reporting was no longer needed.
Recast of ECB Regulation on oversight requirements for systemically important payment systems
On 2 July 2025 the Governing Council adopted the recast Regulation ECB/2025/22 on oversight requirements for systemically important payment systems (“the SIPS Regulation”) and approved the publication of the response statement which summarises the main changes introduced in the SIPS Regulation following the comments received during the related public consultation and clarifies potential interpretation issues where necessary.
TARGET2-Securities (T2S) financial statements
On 17 July 2025 the Governing Council approved the publication of the T2S financial statements for 2024 and took note of the related external audit opinion. The publication of these statements fulfils an obligation under the T2S Framework Agreement and is intended to inform T2S customers and stakeholders, as well as the general public, about the financial situation of T2S. The documents are available on the ECB’s website.
Selection of providers for the digital euro project
On 23 July 2025 the Governing Council approved the selection of providers for the internally sourced components and related services of the digital euro service platform (DESP), in line with the milestones defined for the preparation phase of the digital euro project. More detailed information on the digital euro project is available on the ECB’s website. The latest progress report was also published on 16 July 2025 together with a related press release.
Advice on legislation
ECB Opinion on a proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 974/98 as regards the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria and on a proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2866/98 as regards the conversion rate to the euro for Bulgaria
On 2 July 2025 the Governing Council adopted Opinion CON/2025/15 at the request of the Council of the European Union.
ECB Opinion on the required reserve ratio of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank
On 14 July 2025 the Governing Council adopted Opinion CON/2025/16 at the request of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank.
ECB Opinion on the elimination of certain fees related to payment accounts and cash withdrawals
On 14 July 2025 the Governing Council adopted Opinion CON/2025/17 prepared on the ECB’s own initiative.
Corporate governance
Appointment of the Chair and interim Chair of the Market Infrastructure and Payments Committee (MIPC)
On 23 July 2025 the Governing Council appointed Thomas Vlassopoulos (incoming ECB Director General Market Infrastructure and Payments) as Chair of the MIPC from 1 September 2025 until 31 December 2025, when all the chairs of the Eurosystem/ESCB committees will be (re)appointed for the next three-year period, from January 2026 to December 2028. For the interim period from 23 July to 31 August 2025, the Governing Council appointed Fiona van Echelpoel, ECB Deputy Director General Market Infrastructure and Payments, as interim Chair of the MIPC.
Appointment of the Chair and interim Chair of the Market Infrastructure Board (MIB)
On 23 July 2025 the Governing Council appointed Thomas Vlassopoulos, incoming ECB Director General Market Infrastructure and Payments, as Chair of the MIB from 1 September 2025 until 31 May 2026, at which point the Governing Council will decide on the composition of the MIB for the next three-year period. For the interim period from 23 July to 31 August 2025, the Governing Council appointed Dimitri Pattyn, ECB Deputy Director General Market Infrastructure and Payments, as interim Chair of the MIB.
Chair of the ECB Audit Committee
On 23 July 2025 the Governing Council took note that Olli Rehn, Governor of Suomen Pankki – Finlands Bank and member of the ECB Audit Committee since January 2025, had assumed the function of Chair of the Audit Committee as of July 2025. In this role, Mr Rehn succeeds Klaas Knot, former Governor of De Nederlandsche Bank, whose term of office ended on 1 July 2025.
Participation of Българска народна банка (Bulgarian National Bank) in the Governing Council’s decision-making before 1 January 2026
Further to the formal approval of the Council of the European Union with regard to Bulgaria’s accession to the euro area, the Governing Council decided to invite the Governor of Българска народна банка (Bulgarian National Bank, BNB) to attend Governing Council meetings in an observer capacity before the country’s adoption of the euro on 1 January 2026. From September 2025 on, BNB experts will also be invited to attend, as observers, the meetings of the Eurosystem/ESCB committees and their substructures whenever they convene in Eurosystem composition.
International and European cooperation
Account for the European Commission to hold extraordinary profits related to sanctions on frozen Russian assets under the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism
On 16 July 2025 the Governing Council adopted Decision ECB/2025/23 amending Decision (EU) 2019/1743 on the remuneration of holdings of excess reserves and of certain deposits (ECB/2019/31) and Decision (EU) 2024/1209 on the remuneration of non-monetary policy deposits held with national central banks and the European Central Bank (ECB/2024/11). The amending Decision operationalises the agreement by the ECB to open an account for the European Commission for the purposes of receiving, holding and making transfers of amounts allocated to the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism, the purpose of which is to support Ukraine in covering its financing needs.
Banknotes and coins
Design contest process for future euro banknotes
On 8 July 2025 the Governing Council took note of the status of the process for the design contest and for the establishment of the design contest jury for the future series of euro banknotes. The design contest will allow the Governing Council to select a design for the future euro banknotes and will be based on the general principles of a public, transparent and non-discriminatory competition. The procedure was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 15 July 2025. The jury, made up of independent experts, will prepare a shortlist of designs to support the selection by the Governing Council. A related press release is also available on the ECB’s website.
ECB Banking Supervision
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Anti-Money Laundering Authority
On 27 June 2025 the Governing Council did not object to a proposal by the Supervisory Board to endorse a MoU on cooperation and information exchange between the ECB and the newly established European Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA). The MoU is available on the ECB’s banking supervision website, together with a related press release.
Threat-led penetration testing (TLPT) under the Digital Operational Resilience Act
On 27 June 2025 the Governing Council did not object to a proposal by the Supervisory Board to identify specific supervised entities and, where deemed appropriate, their subsidiaries which are required to conduct TLPT under Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (DORA). TLPT is defined in DORA as a tool that mimics the tactics, techniques and procedures of real-life threat actors perceived as posing a genuine cyber threat and delivers a controlled, bespoke, intelligence-led (red team) test of the financial entity’s critical live production systems. The ECB will inform the identified supervised entities (and subsidiaries, if any) by letter.
Framework for cooperation and information exchange with authorities under Regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets
On 1 July 2025 the Governing Council did not object to a proposal by the Supervisory Board concerning the transmission of confidential supervisory information to national competent authorities under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCAR). Given the different organisational set-ups across EU Member States, the framework clarifies how ECB Banking Supervision can access MiCAR-related information for the purpose of the ECB’s supervisory tasks under the SSM Regulation and outlines the procedures that Joint Supervisory Teams should follow when responding to information exchange requests from the competent authorities designated by the Member States to carry out the functions and duties outlined in MiCAR.
Review of the ECB framework for the exercise of options and discretions
On 15 July 2025 the Governing Council did not object to a proposal by the Supervisory Board to adopt Regulation ECB/2025/24 amending Regulation (EU) 2016/445 on the exercise of options and discretions available in Union law (ECB/2016/4), Guideline ECB/2025/25 amending Guideline (EU) 2017/697 on the exercise of options and discretions available in Union law by national competent authorities in relation to less significant institutions (ECB/2017/9) and Recommendation ECB/2025/26 amending Recommendation ECB/2017/10 on common specifications for the exercise of some options and discretions available in Union law by national competent authorities in relation to less significant institutions. The Governing Council also did not object to the approval of an updated ECB Guide on options and discretions available in Union law, which takes into account the feedback received in the course of a related public consultation in response to which a feedback statement has also been made available, together with a related press release, on the ECB’s banking supervision website.
ECB Guide on outsourcing cloud services to cloud service providers
On 17 July 2025 the ECB published its final Guide on outsourcing cloud services to cloud service providers, following a public consultation, which ended in July 2024. The Guide does not lay down legally binding requirements, practices, or rules. Instead, it clarifies the expectations the ECB has for banks to comply with DORA requirements. It also provides good practices on effective outsourcing risk management for banks under ECB supervision that use third-party cloud services, based on observed industry practices. The Guide, together with a related press release, is available on the ECB’s banking supervision website.
Administrative penalty imposed on one euro area bank
On 18 July 2025 the ECB announced that it had imposed an administrative penalty of €6.94 million to Belfius Banque S.A. / Belfius Bank S.A./N.V. due to non-compliance with the requirements related to the implementation of internal models. Such models measure the risk held by the bank on its balance sheet. A related press release is available on the ECB’s banking supervision website.
Revised ECB guide to internal models
On 22 July 2025 the Governing Council did not object to a proposal by the Supervisory Board to approve the revised ECB guide to internal models and the related Frequently Asked Questions, both of which will be published shortly on the ECB’s banking supervision website. Applicable banking law requires the ECB to grant permission to use internal models for credit risk, counterparty credit risk and market risk, where the requirements set out in the corresponding chapters of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) are met. The ECB guide to internal models provides transparency on how the ECB understands and intends to apply the respective rules when assessing internal models, based on the current applicable EU and national law.
