Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, outlined during a hearing at the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the eurozone economy.
She indicated that companies are expected to allocate about 10% of their total investments to AI by 2026, and that AI-related credit already accounts for nearly a quarter of the growth in corporate lending.
AI is seen as a significant lever to improve productivity, competitiveness, and living standards in Europe. However, it also affects investment, the labor market, and inflation—key factors for the ECB’s monetary policy.
Despite energy shocks, the eurozone economy demonstrated some resilience in the second quarter of 2026, with solid and broad real GDP growth, notably in industry, services, and AI-related investments.
The labor market remains robust with an unemployment rate of 6.4% in July, although employment growth is slowing. Productivity is gradually improving.
The ECB forecasts economic growth of 0.9% in 2026, 1.4% in 2027, and 1.5% in 2028. Overall inflation rose to 3.2% in August, driven by higher energy prices, while inflation excluding energy and food slightly decreased to 2.4%.
