is changing rapidly, driven by technological change and by consumer preferences. the ways in which we as consumers buy, use and engage with financial services has changed hugely, leading to new risks in the financial sector we supervise and for the consumers we protect. 2 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches as outlined in my two recent letters to yourselves, the central bank is making changes to the way we are organised to deliver our financial regulation responsibilities. consumer protection remains a core part of those responsibilities. but in order to continue to deliver on our mandate both today and into the future, we are changing our approach to ensure that consumers of financial services are protected in an increasingly complex environment. this enhanced approach is based on accumulated experience, on insight, on best practice and is built for a faster moving and more complex financial services sector. we are making the most fundamental strengthening of our consumer protection approach for more than a decade. in terms of frameworks, as you know, we will shortly be introducing an updated consumer protection code. this follows the largest, most in - depth review of the code since it was introduced to ensure that it is fit for purpose into the future, is reflective of the changed nature of financial services and strengthens protections for consumers. this is a tangible demonstration of our ongoing commitment to the protection of consumers of financial services right across the country, and we have consulted widely on it to ensure we hear consumers'and other stakeholders'views directly. to implement the rules we need the right operational approach internally. this includes moving to an integrated framework where, at an operational level, directorates with oversight of banks, insurance companies and capital markets will be responsible for the supervision of all the functions of their respective sectors ( as opposed to separate directorates undertaking supervisory activities for consumer protection, prudential regulation and market supervision ). the new approach will make it easier to direct our supervisory resources to the areas of most risk to consumers or the system more widely. importantly, we are taking the existing team that stood in a single consumer protection directorate and placing them where their expertise is most required, directly in supervisory directorates across banks, insurance and funds.'mainstreaming'consumer protection activity in this way will enable us to dedicate greater attention and resources to where the particular risk is at a point in time. the new approach will allow us to do more, not less, to protect consumers. let me give an example of how we see the interconnections in our work in relation to consumer protection.

agents ( governments, firms and households ). this leads us to monitor a large set of indicators, with a multifaceted and holistic approach. let me add some comments about the recent increase we have seen in long - term rates, following although to a lesser extent the move in the us. this increase has different causes, and hence calls for different reactions and instruments. first, in the euro area, the latest consumer price data have surprised on the upside, and there are some signs of an upturn in inflation expectations. this is actually good news, as philip lane noted last week. 1 that said, this rise shouldn ’ t be overstated ; it primarily reflects temporary factors rather than a persistent and significant change in the inflation path. the euro area economy is in a different situation compared with that of the us ( in terms of real activity, output gap and fiscal stimulus ). there is no risk of overheating in europe. second, this less disinflationary environment shouldn ’ t raise questions about our future monetary policy, and our reaction function. let me reiterate a strong conviction about our inflation objective : it is flexible, symmetric and medium - term. to put it clearly, these last two imperatives mean that 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches we cannot completely ignore the past inflation shortfalls, and that in the future we should be ready to accept inflation above target for some time. as necessary, our forward guidance could be strengthened to make this tolerance explicit. and third, there are other elements in this tightening of financing conditions, including excessive spillovers and tensions on the term premia. in so much as this tightening is unwarranted, we can and must react against it, starting with an active flexibility of our pepp purchases, which we have made possible since its inception in march 2020, and enhanced last december. ii. financial stability lessons have to be fully drawn from the past experiences about the obvious costs of financial crises. history has shown that price stability is not a sufficient condition to ensure financial stability. furthermore, low - for - long interest rates, in a context of a decreasing natural rate of interest, can contribute to the build - up of systemic risk and financial vulnerabilities, by encouraging excessive risk - taking and financial misalignments. 2this matters for monetary policy. of course, macroprudential policy is the first and main line of defence, and the toolkit has been considerably enhanced in recent years