--- eventsindex_id: EI-07018 slug: ecb-forum-on-central-banking-sintra title: ECB Forum on Central Banking (Sintra) title_alt: - Sintra Forum - ECB Sintra Forum canonical_url: https://eventsindex.org/events/ecb-forum-on-central-banking-sintra.html next_edition_dates: 2026-06-29 to 2026-07-01 next_edition_year: 2026 date_start: '2026-06-29' date_end: '2026-07-01' venue: Penha Longa Resort city: Sintra country: Portugal organiser: European Central Bank organiser_url: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/conferences/ecbforum/html/index.en.html b2b: true vector: sector: - economic-forums audience: - central-bank-governors - academics - financial-market-representatives - journalists - senior-economists format: - conference purpose: - networking - policy geography_scope: - Western-Europe season: summer meta_description: "ECB Forum on Central Banking (Sintra), 29 June-1 July 2026: ECB's annual symposium for central bank governors, academics and economists." editorial_take: The one fixture on the European economic calendar where sitting central bank governors, not their deputies, share a stage with academics; Sintra sets the monetary-policy tone for the second half of the year. generated_by: enrich-cowork (N1/N2/N3) last_verified: '2026-06-11' schema_version: v8.0 language: en --- # ECB Forum on Central Banking > *Held each summer at the Penha Longa Resort in Sintra, the ECB Forum is the European Central Bank's annual invitation-only symposium for central bank governors, senior academic economists, and international market representatives: three days of structured debate broadcast live to a global audience, with the policy panel serving as the year's defining moment in central bank communications.* --- ## Quick Facts | DATES | VENUE | ORGANISER | ATTENDANCE | |---|---|---|---| | 29 June to 1 July 2026 | Penha Longa Resort, Sintra, Portugal | European Central Bank | ~180 invited participants (according to the organiser) | ## Definition The ECB Forum on Central Banking is an annual symposium organised by the European Central Bank since 2014 at the Penha Longa Resort in Sintra, Portugal. Participation is strictly by invitation and limited to central bank officials, senior academic economists, international financial market representatives, and accredited journalists. The entire event is live-streamed on the ECB website and YouTube, extending its reach far beyond the 180 delegates in the room. Each edition is structured around a single annual theme, combining research papers, thematic panels, and a flagship policy panel that brings together the world's most influential central bank governors. The Forum also awards the ECB Young Economist Prize, EUR 10,000 given to a PhD candidate who presents original research during the event. ## What is the ECB Forum on Central Banking? The Sintra Forum was conceived as Europe's answer to the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Economic Symposium: a forum where the ECB President can convene counterparts from the world's major central banks and the foremost academic researchers in monetary economics. It is explicitly not a conference open to registration; attendance requires a direct invitation from the ECB, and invitations are non-transferable without ECB approval. The event takes place over three days in late June or early July, typically ending with the high-profile policy panel that attracts the widest media coverage. Each edition is anchored by a research programme commissioned around the year's theme. Academic papers are presented and discussed in plenary and breakout sessions, creating a structured dialogue between the research community and policymakers. This format distinguishes the Forum from press conferences or informal summits: it is a working conference where research findings are stress-tested against the views of the officials who will actually implement policy. The three-day format allows for genuine deliberation rather than a sequence of prepared speeches. ## Who attends ECB Forum on Central Banking The Forum draws a carefully curated group of roughly 180 participants across four categories: - **Central bank officials**: the ECB President and Executive Board, governors of European national central banks, and, by invitation, governors or chairs of major non-European central banks (notably the Federal Reserve, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, Bank of Korea, and others depending on the year's theme). - **Academic economists**: research economists from universities and policy institutes whose work is directly relevant to the annual theme; some are commissioned to present papers, others participate as discussants. - **Senior economists from international institutions**: representatives from the IMF, BIS, World Bank, and European institutions whose analytical work intersects with central bank mandates. - **Selected media**: international and national journalists covering monetary policy receive invitations as participants; others can follow the event from a dedicated media centre near the venue in Sintra. The mix of sitting central bank governors with academic researchers is the Forum's defining feature: policy questions are tested against the current state of research in real time, in a setting where frank exchange is encouraged by the small, curated audience. ## What ECB Forum on Central Banking covers programmatically The 2026 theme is "Shaping Europe's future: innovation, growth and stability." This framing signals a focus on structural questions about European competitiveness, the interaction between technological innovation and monetary policy transmission, and the longer-term conditions for price stability in a changing European economy. The theme is broader in scope than the 2025 edition ("Adapting to change: macroeconomic shifts and policy responses"), which concentrated on the cyclical and structural dislocations that followed the post-pandemic inflation episode. Across editions, the Forum consistently returns to a core set of subject areas: inflation dynamics and price-setting behaviour, monetary policy transmission in fragmented or heterogeneous currency areas, financial stability at the intersection of banking and capital markets, the role of expectations in monetary policy, and, increasingly, structural forces such as demographics, trade fragmentation, and the green transition. Each year's research papers are commissioned before the event and published in full on the ECB website after the Forum concludes, creating a publicly accessible archive of frontier monetary economics. ## Notable speakers and participants The 2025 policy panel, held on 1 July 2025, brought together ECB President Christine Lagarde, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda, and Bank of Korea Governor Chang Yong Rhee. This combination of the world's five most-watched central bank leaders in a single moderated discussion is unusual by any standard and accounts for the Forum's exceptional media reach. The 2026 speaker roster had not been formally announced as of June 2026. Given the Forum's consistent track record since 2014, it is reasonable to expect the ECB President and a similar group of major central bank governors to participate in the policy panel, but no confirmed names should be assumed until the ECB publishes the programme. ## Edition history and context The ECB launched the Forum in 2014, choosing the Penha Longa Resort in Sintra as its permanent venue. The founding rationale was to create a European high-level policy forum with a strong research component, distinct from the more informal gatherings that already existed. Mario Draghi chaired the Forum through 2019, his final edition being the 2019 event in Sintra. Christine Lagarde took over as ECB President in November 2019 and has presided over the Forum since 2021, after the 2020 edition was held in a modified format due to the pandemic. The 2026 edition will be the thirteenth instalment of the Forum, continuing an unbroken annual tradition at the same venue. ## FAQ · Identity and audience ### Is the ECB Forum on Central Banking the same as the Jackson Hole symposium? They are distinct events run by different institutions. Jackson Hole is organised by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and held in Wyoming each August; it has been running since 1978. The ECB Forum launched in 2014 and is explicitly European in origin and institutional sponsorship, though it invites many of the same non-European central bank governors that attend Jackson Hole. The two events have comparable prestige and media impact; they serve as the two most-watched annual forums for central bank communication globally. ### Does the invitation-only format mean the research is not publicly accessible? No. While attendance at the event itself requires an invitation, the ECB publishes all commissioned research papers, session recordings, and slide decks on its website and YouTube channel. The live-stream means any economist or journalist can follow proceedings in real time. The restriction applies to physical participation and the informal networking that takes place during the three days, not to the intellectual content of the event. ### What is the ECB Young Economist Prize? The Prize awards EUR 10,000 to a PhD candidate in economics or finance who submits and presents original research at the Forum. Applications opened earlier in the year with a deadline in March. The winning paper is presented during the Forum programme, giving early-career researchers direct exposure to the world's most senior central bank officials and academic economists. ### Who is ECB Forum on Central Banking NOT designed for? - Professionals seeking a commercial or networking conference with open registration and a large exhibitor floor. - Asset managers, fintech companies, or financial services firms looking for client-facing exposure or sponsorship opportunities. - Economists at earlier career stages who do not hold a position at a central bank or a research university with a strong monetary economics profile (except through the Young Economist Prize competition). - Journalists who are not accredited to cover the ECB or major central banks: media access is limited and space-constrained. - Policy advocates or NGO representatives whose work is not directly connected to central bank research mandates. ## The venue: Penha Longa Resort The Penha Longa Resort is a five-star luxury hotel and spa set within a historic palace on the outskirts of Sintra, roughly 30 kilometres west of Lisbon, in a UNESCO World Heritage cultural site. The ECB has used the resort as its permanent venue since the Forum's first edition in 2014, and the hotel and conference facilities occupy the same estate with a short walk between them. The location is deliberately secluded, reinforcing the private-dialogue character of the event while remaining accessible from Lisbon's international airport. ## The organiser: European Central Bank The European Central Bank was established in 1998 and is the central bank of the eurozone, responsible for monetary policy for the 20 EU member states that use the euro. Its primary mandate is price stability, defined as inflation of 2 percent over the medium term. The ECB is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and operates alongside the national central banks of eurozone members under the European System of Central Banks. Beyond its policy functions, the ECB publishes extensive economic research, maintains a Working Paper Series, and organises academic and policy events including the Forum on Central Banking. The Forum is managed directly by the ECB's communications and research directorates, with logistical coordination handled in partnership with the Penha Longa Resort. There is no commercial organiser or third-party conference producer involved: the event is an institutional production of the ECB itself. --- ## Editorial take *The ECB Sintra Forum is the most authoritative central banking gathering in Europe: the only venue where the ECB President, the Federal Reserve Chair, the Bank of England Governor, and peers from Asia routinely share a policy panel, making it the EMEA circuit's closest equivalent to Jackson Hole.* ## How to register and what it costs The ECB Forum operates exclusively by invitation. There is no public registration, no application form for general attendance, and no ticket sale. Invitations are issued directly by the ECB to central bank officials, academic economists, senior economists at international institutions, and selected media. Invitations are non-transferable: any transfer requires explicit approval from the ECB via info@ecbforum.eu. Invited participants are charged a EUR 1,500 fee to cover a portion of the event's costs, according to the organiser. This fee is not a ticket price in the commercial sense but a cost-sharing contribution. For those not invited to attend in person, the event is fully accessible online through the ECB's live-stream, which covers all plenary sessions and the policy panel without charge. ## FAQ · Access and practicalities ### Can I apply to attend if I have not received an invitation? No. The Forum does not operate an open application process for general participation. Attendance is determined solely by the ECB's invitation list. Economists and journalists who wish to be considered for future editions can engage with the ECB's research networks or press office, but there is no formal application channel for the Forum itself. ### Can media attend without an invitation? Journalists who are not on the invitation list can access a dedicated media centre located near the Forum venue in Sintra. This facility provides connectivity and a base for reporting but does not include access to the sessions or the resort grounds. The live-stream remains the primary resource for media not in the room. ### When is the programme published? The ECB typically publishes the programme, speaker list, and commissioned research papers progressively in the weeks before the Forum. Details are available on the official Forum page at ecb.europa.eu and announced via the @ECBForum account on X. For the 2026 edition, the programme was expected to be posted closer to the 29 June start date. ## Resources | Resource | URL | |---|---| | Official website | https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/conferences/ecbforum/html/index.en.html | | FAQ | https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/conferences/ecbforum/faq/html/index.en.html | | Organiser | https://www.ecb.europa.eu | | ECB YouTube channel | https://www.youtube.com/@ecb | | @ECBForum on X | https://x.com/ecbforum | --- **Last verified:** 2026-06-11 **Next review:** 2026-07-11 **Notes:** Attendance figure of ~180 participants is self-reported by the organiser. The 2026 speaker roster had not been announced as of the verification date; named speakers in the fiche refer to the 2025 edition. EUR 1,500 participation fee per the ECB FAQ. The Forum launched in 2014; the 2026 edition is the thirteenth instalment. 2026 programme details expected to be published closer to the event. **Variables:** 42/58 **Concept definition:** not applicable