The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to extend the timeline for the review of its monetary policy strategy. In the current situation, the decision-making bodies and staff of the ECB and the national central banks of the Eurosystem are focusing all their efforts on addressing the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. The conclusion of the strategy review will therefore be postponed from the end of 2020 to mid-2021.

Owing to the health measures in place across the European Union, including lockdowns of public spaces and rules prohibiting gatherings in several euro area countries, the listening events of the ECB and the Eurosystem’s national central banks – originally planned for the first half of 2020 – are now intended to take place during the second half of 2020. The annual ECB Forum on Central Banking in Sintra has been postponed to 10-12 November 2020.

The ECB continues to invite euro area citizens to submit their written proposals and comments about the ECB’s monetary policy strategy, in their euro area language, via the dedicated online ECB Listens Portal. The deadline for submissions has been moved to the end of August 2020.