About 53 affected families are travelling to Angola as part of the South African delegation for the Angola Exile Repatriation Project.
The mission seeks to bring home the remains of South Africans who died in exile during the liberation struggle, honouring their lives, sacrifices and contribution to the countryâs history.
Food waste doesnât just waste food. It also wastes the land, water and energy used to produce it â and generates an estimated 8â10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
UNEPâs Michael Muratha explains how reducing food waste, from smarter meal planning to AI-powered solutions, can make a difference.
Panel 4
Liquidity in resolution: institutional coordination under stress
In January 2026, the ECB announced amendments to its counterparty framework to address access to Eurosystem monetary policy operations for entities subject to a resolution scheme. This marks a significant development in the ECBâs approach to liquidity provision following resolution by addressing the so-called âMonday morning problemâ. Under the updated framework, access to monetary policy operations will be reinstated for financially sound banks subject to an open bank resolution strategy, provided certain conditions are met. This amendment lifts the automatic limitation previously applied and helps reinstate banks coming out of resolution as monetary policy counterparties. Effective implementation of this framework will require swift and coordinated actions involving the ECB (both SSM and the central banking side), the Single Resolution Board the European Commission, and potentially the ESM, and Member States. The ECBâs role in the provision of liquidity and the supervision of the incumbent bank, the role of Single Resolution Board and of the European Commission in ensuring swift and perennial resolution in compliance with state aid rules, and potentially the role of ESM, and Member States in providing a guarantee will be assessed by the panel.
Chair: Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank
Panellists:
Seraina Grunewald, Professor, University of St. Gallen
Karl Philipp Wojcik, Senior Adviser to the Executive Vice-President, European Commission
David Ramos MuĂąoz, Professor, Carlos III University of Madrid
Tenth annual conference of the European Systemic Risk Board, Thursday, 1 and Friday, 2 October 2026, Frankfurt am Main. Physical event (by invitation only) with livestream.
See the conference programme here:
https://www.esrb.europa.eu/news/schedule/html/261001_10th_annual_conference.en.html
15:30
Welcome address
Christine Lagarde, in her capacity as Chair of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), will open the conference with a welcome address.
15:45
Panel discussion: Us in the mirror: How to ensure that the EU financial system contributes to a strong EU?
The EU is currently confronted with a challenging macroeconomic environment, coupled with a complex geopolitical landscape. This highlights the need for a financial system that effectively contributes to a strong EU. This panel will discuss how to achieve this.
Chair: Christine Lagarde, Chair of the European Systemic Risk Board and President of the European Central Bank
Special speakers:
⢠Klaas Knot, Former President, De Nederlandsche Bank
⢠Stefan Ingves, Former Governor of Sveriges Riksbank, Chairman, Toronto Centre and Senior Fellow, Swedish House of Finance
16:45
Keynote speech
HÊlène Rey, Economic Adviser and Head of the Monetary and Economic Department, Bank for International Settlements, will deliver a keynote speech.
17:15
Response by Luc Laeven, Director General Research, European Central Bank
Panel 6
Non-judicial review: Central banks, auditors and ombudsman
This panel examines the relationship between central banks and mechanisms of non-judicial review, focusing on auditors and ombudsman institutions. Cooperation with such institutions raises structurally sensitive questions at the intersection of independence, accountability, and control. Key issues include the scope and limits of audit and ombudsman mandates, the distinction between legality, performance, and maladministration review, and the constraints imposed by professional secrecy and market-sensitive information. How can meaningful oversight be exercised without encroaching upon central bank independence? The discussion will also explore how these mechanisms operate beyond traditional monetary policy, notably in areas such as banking supervision, and how they interact across levels of governance. Particular attention will be given to the roles of the European Court of Auditors, national supreme audit institutions, and the European Ombudsman, including potential overlaps and complementarities.
Chair: Boris VujÄiÄ, Vice-President, European Central Bank
Panellists:
Menelaos Markakis, Associate Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Jennifer King, Legal expert, European Ombudsman
Paola Chirulli, Professor, UniversitĂĄ di Roma Sapienza
Panel 1
Central banks and the legislature
This panel examines the relationship between the European Central Bank (ECB) and legislature as a two-way interaction. On the one hand, it considers the ECBâs involvement in the legislative process, in particular through its independent consultative function. On the other hand, it addresses the scrutiny exercised by the European Parliament over the ECB, most notably through the Monetary Dialogue. The discussion will highlight the specificities of the EU constitutional framework, and the special relationship between a supranational and independent monetary authority and the parliament. To what extent does the ECBâs consultative role meaningfully influence legislative outcomes, and how should its input be understood within the EUâs institutional balance? How should parliamentary scrutiny evolve in light of ECB tasks that carry more visible distributive effects, especially in times of crisis? What role does the ECBâs secondary mandate play in this discussion?
Chair: Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board, European Central Bank
Panellists:
Julio Baquero Cruz, Member of the Legal Services, European Commission
Evelien Witlox, Director of Digital Euro, European Central Bank
Sara Dietz, Principal Associate, Freshfields
