Among the problematic developments for firms over the first quarter of 2026, high energy prices recorded the strongest growth, with 61% of firms seeing them as a pressing problem over the next six months in March (December 2025: 43%). In absolute terms, “regulation and government regulations” remain the biggest short-term challenge for firms, with an unchanged 69% in March 2026 reporting that bureaucracy would be a pressing problem over the next six months compared with December 2025.

The nominal effective exchange rates of the euro condense bilateral exchange rates against multiple countries into a single index. As an aggregate, they capture changes in euro exchange rates against various groups of currencies of key trading partners.

Das Direktorium der Europäischen Zentralbank (EZB) hat die leitenden Führungspositionen von drei Generaldirektionen der EZB neu besetzt. Roland Straub wurde zum Generaldirektor Geldpolitik, Christophe Kamps zum Generaldirektor Internationale und europäische Beziehungen und Petra Senkovic zur Generaldirektorin Rechtsdienste ernannt.