Interview with Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted on 30 April 2024 by Miquel Roig, Javier Jorrín and Óscar Giménez and published on 6 May 2024

6 May 2024

Question: The euro area is struggling to keep pace with growth in the United States and China. Are you in any way concerned about Europe falling behind those two economies? Or do you think it’s something temporary and we’ll catch up eventually?

Europe needs to focus on its own performance. Of course, it’s interesting to use global benchmarks, but in the end the performance of the European economy is going to depend on the choices made by European businesses and governments. At the same time, in recognition of geopolitical tensions, Europe has a strong incentive to make sure that it has good economic security into the future.

In Europe we have seen that higher interest rates have affected investment. Are you concerned that this could be affecting current or potential GDP growth?

It has to be…