The euribor rises to 2.95% in August and makes variable mortgages even more expensive.

The decision of the European Central Bank (ECB) to raise or lower interest rates follows a very structured, technical, and collegiate procedure. It is not a decision improvised by a single person, but the result of a recurring process involving economic data, models, experts, and various governing bodies.

1. General framework: who decides and with what objective

The authority to set the official euro interest rates lies with the ECB Governing Council. This body is composed of:

• The six members of the ECB Executive Board (including the presidency).
• The governors of the national central banks of the euro area countries.

Its main mandate is to maintain price stability, which the ECB interprets as inflation of 2 % in the medium term. Every decision on rates is evaluated in light of this objective.

2. Collection and analysis of economic data

Continuously, the services of the ECB and the national central banks collect and analyze a huge amount of information:

• Data on inflation (harmonized CPI, components, core inflation).
• Evolution of economic growth: GDP, industrial production, trade, employment.
• Financial conditions: market rates, risk premiums, bank credit.
• International information: rates of other central banks, energy prices, etc.

Periodically, the so-called Eurosystem macroeconomic projections are prepared, estimating inflation and growth for the coming years under different assumptions. These forecasts are a central input to assess whether current rates are compatible with price stability.

3. Preparation of the monetary policy meeting

The Governing Council holds monetary policy meetings, generally every six weeks. Before each, a technical preparation phase takes place:

• The ECB teams prepare detailed reports on the economic and financial situation.
• Forecasting models are updated with the latest data.
• A “policy briefing” is prepared outlining different rate scenarios (raise, cut, maintain) and their risks.

Meanwhile, the governors of the national central banks prepare their own positions, relying on information from their respective countries, which can reinforce or nuance the aggregated euro area view.

4. Meeting development and consensus building

In the meeting, the sequence is usually as follows:

• Presentation by ECB services of the economic analysis (activity, inflation, employment).
• Presentation of the monetary and financial analysis (credit, market rates, financial stability).
• Interventions by each Governing Council member with their assessment and policy preference.

From this debate, an attempt is made to reach a consensus on the orientation of monetary policy: raise, cut, or maintain rates, and by what magnitude (e.g., 0.25 or 0.5 percentage points). The goal is for the final decision to be consistent with the inflation target and to consider short- and medium-term risks.

5. Formal decision and, if applicable, voting

If there is clear consensus, the ECB presidency formulates it as the Council's decision. If not, a formal vote may be held. Each member has one vote, although for national central bank governors, voting rights rotate when the number of countries exceeds certain thresholds, according to predetermined rules.

The decision is concretized in the levels of the three official rates (main refinancing rate, marginal lending facility, and deposit facility), which determine the basic “price” of money in the euro financial system.

6. Market communication and follow-up

Once the decision is made:

• An official statement is published explaining the decision and the economic assessment.
• The ECB presidency holds a press conference detailing the reasons and answering questions.
• Subsequently, the minutes of the meeting are published, with some delay, capturing the debate summary (without attributing statements to specific individuals).

Afterwards, the ECB monitors how financial markets, credit, and the real economy react. This reaction feeds the analysis of subsequent meetings: the process is cyclical and each rate decision is reviewed recurrently in light of new data.

In summary, an ECB rate hike or cut is the result of a technical, collegiate, and repeated procedure that ranges from systematic data collection, through analysis and debate in the Governing Council, to the formal decision and its public communication.

The President of the European Central Bank (ECB) is a key figure in the Eurosystem's monetary policy, but does not decide alone. Their powers combine functions of direction, coordination, representation, and leadership in the collegiate decision-making on interest rates and other monetary tools.

First, the body that formally sets monetary policy is the ECB Governing Council, which includes the six members of the Executive Board (including the president) and the governors of the national central banks of the euro area. Each has a voice and, when necessary, a vote. Therefore, the “legal” competence to set interest rates, main refinancing operations, asset purchases, and other instruments lies with this collegiate body.

Within this framework, the president has several fundamental powers:

1. Direction and coordination of monetary policy

The president chairs the Governing Council and the Executive Board of the ECB. This grants the power to:

• Set the agenda of meetings where monetary policy is decided.
• Guide the debate, giving the floor, ordering interventions, and steering discussions.
• Seek consensus or majorities when members' opinions diverge.
• Propose, together with the rest of the Executive Board, concrete technical proposals (e.g., a change in the official interest rate, introduction of a new liquidity facility, or modification of a purchase program).

Although the president's vote does not formally count more than others, their ability to structure meetings and articulate a course of action gives them a decisive influence on the final outcome.

2. External representation and communication of monetary policy

Another crucial power of the president is communication. After each monetary policy meeting, the president:

• Holds a press conference to explain the decisions taken and the underlying economic analysis.
• Presents the ECB's macroeconomic projections when appropriate.
• Answers media questions, clarifying and refining the Governing Council's message.

Additionally, the president represents the ECB:

• Before the European Parliament, explaining monetary policy and accounting for their actions.
• In international forums, such as the G20, the International Monetary Fund, or meetings with other central banks.

Through these channels, the president exercises a key role in shaping expectations. Financial markets, governments, and economic agents interpret their words as a signal of the future orientation of monetary policy (“forward guidance”). Although decisions are collegiate, the way the president communicates them can reinforce or guide their interpretation.

3. Internal execution and supervision

Internally, the president:

• Leads the Executive Board, responsible for implementing the Governing Council's monetary policy decisions (e.g., organizing open market operations, coordinating implementation with national central banks, approving operational details).
• Supervises that monetary policy is executed consistently with the primary mandate of price stability and collegiate decisions.
• Participates in defining the monetary policy strategy (e.g., formulating the inflation target), whose revision is also agreed upon in the Governing Council.

Although execution is mainly technical and distributed between the ECB and national central banks, the president's leadership influences the speed, emphasis, and priorities within the margin allowed by formal decisions.

4. Strategic influence and crisis management

In contexts of financial or economic tension, the president's role becomes especially visible. Without bypassing rules or the mandate, the president:

• Brings forward proposals for extraordinary instruments (new asset purchase programs, liquidity measures, special operation modalities, etc.).
• Coordinates with other authorities (e.g., the European Commission or other central banks) while respecting the ECB's independence.
• Manages communication in high volatility situations, trying to avoid panic or misunderstandings about the ECB's reaction.

In summary, the ECB president does not “set monetary policy alone,” but holds a central leadership role: organizing and guiding the decision-making process, embodying the Governing Council's position externally, and providing coherence over time to the Eurosystem's monetary policy strategy.

The latest European Parliament elections in which Spain elected representatives were held on June 9, 2024. Their official results are recorded in the Agreement of June 27, 2024, of the Central Electoral Board (JEC), published in the Official State Gazette on June 28, 2024 (full text in the BOE). This agreement includes, for each candidacy, the number of votes obtained throughout Spain and the number of seats assigned.

General framework of the results

According to the JEC agreement itself, Spain elected in those elections 61 members of the European Parliament, distributed in a single nationwide constituency. The document includes:

• A Table I with the general summary by province (electors, voters, valid votes, votes for candidacies, blank and null votes).
• A Table II with the total votes of each candidacy that obtained seats and the corresponding number of seats.
• A Table III with the votes of candidacies that did not obtain representation.

For your question, the legally binding source to know the distribution of seats and the vote percentage of each list is precisely Table II of the Central Electoral Board agreement.

Candidacies with representation

From the BOE excerpts identified in the research, it is confirmed that among the candidacies that did obtain seats in the 2024 European elections are, at least, the following:

• People's Party (PP).
• Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).
• VOX.
• Sumar (a coalition of several forces to the left of PSOE).
• Ahora Repúblicas, a coalition including – among other forces – ERC, EH Bildu, BNG, and Ara Més.
• Electors' grouping “Se acabó la fiesta”.
• PODEMOS (in its own list, separate from Sumar).
• Junts i Lliures per Europa.
• Coalition for a Solidary Europe (CEUS), grouping territorial formations (such as the PNV).

The BOE itself indicates, regarding each of these candidacies, the number of votes obtained nationwide (column “Votes”) and the number of resulting MEPs (column “Total seats”). That is, in that table you can find for each list something like this (generic example):

“Party X – Votes nationwide: N – Total seats: M”.

Vote percentage

The vote percentage of each candidacy is strictly calculated by dividing:

• The votes obtained by that list throughout Spain (data appearing in Table II),
• by the total of valid votes for candidacies (data recorded in Table I, in the “Statewide total” row),
• and multiplying by 100.

The JEC agreement we have located reproduces the votes of each candidacy in full, but the accessible excerpt in the research trace does not clearly include the statewide total for candidacies line nor the complete row of each party in Table II, so it is not possible here, with legal certainty, to reconstruct the exact vote percentage of each list without directly accessing the original document.

Detailed count: where to consult it

To know precisely the number of seats and vote percentage of each candidacy in the latest European elections in Spain, I recommend:

• Consulting directly the JEC agreement in the BOE: JEC Agreement June 27, 2024 .
• In that text, review:
  • The final part of Table I, where the statewide summary appears (total votes for candidacies).
  • The complete Table II, which offers for each list its total votes and seats.
• From those data, calculate the vote percentage of each list if you need to express it numerically (although in many analyses the percentage already calculated by the Ministry of the Interior in its official electoral statistics is taken as reference).

In summary: the latest European Parliament elections with Spain's participation were held on June 9, 2024, with 61 seats at stake in a single nationwide constituency. The exact seat distribution and the numerical basis to obtain the vote percentage of each candidacy are set, with official value, in the Central Electoral Board agreement of June 27, 2024, published in the BOE.