Information about European Central Bank

''' European Central Bank Европейска централна банка Banc Central Europeu Evropská centrální banka Den Europæiske Centralbank Europese Centrale Bank Euroopa Keskpank Euroopan keskuspankki Banque centrale européenne Europäische Zentralbank Ευρωπαϊκή Κεντρική Τράπεζα Európai Központi Bank Banc Ceannais na hEorpa Banca Centrale Europea Eiropas Centrālā banka Europos centrinis bankas Bank Ċentrali Ewropew Europejski Bank Centralny Banco Central Europeu Banca Centrală Europeană Európska centrálna banka Evropska centralna banka Banco Central Europeo Europeiska centralbanken '''
The temporary home New HQ expected in 2011 The temporary home New HQ expected in 2011
Headquarters	Frankfurt, Germany
Coordinates	Coordinates:
Established	1 January 1998
President	Jean-Claude Trichet
Central Bank of	Eurozone Austria Belgium France Finland Germany Greece Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Portugal Slovenia Spain
Currency	Euro
ISO 4217 Code	EUR
Reserves	€526bn in total €43bn directly €338bn (Eurosystem incl. gold) €145bn (forex reserves)
Base borrowing rate	5%
Base deposit rate	3%
Website	ecb.eu
Preceded by	13 national banks Banca d'Italia Banco de España Banco de Portugal Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος (Bank of Greece) Banka Slovenije Banque Centrale du Luxembourg Banque de France Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland De Nederlandsche Bank Deutsche Bundesbank Nationale Bank van België / Banque nationale de Belgique Oesterreichische Nationalbank Suomen Pankki

The European Central Bank (ECB) is one of the world's most important central banks, responsible for monetary policy covering the 13 member countries of the Eurozone. It was established by the European Union (EU) in 1998 with its headquarters are in Frankfurt, Germany.

History

Main article: History of the European Union

The predecessor to the ECB was the European Monetary Institute (EMI). It was established at the start of the second stage of the EU's Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) to handle the transitional issues of states adopting the euro and prepare for the creation of the ECB and European System of Central Banks (ESCB). The EMI itself took over from the earlier European Monetary Co-operation Fund (EMCF).^[1]

The ECB formally replaced the EMI in May of 2008 by virtue of the Maastricht Treaty, however it did not exercise its full powers until the introduction of the euro on 1999-01-01 signalling the third stage of EMU. The bank was the final institution needed for EMU, as outlined by the EMU reports of Pierre Werner and President Jacques Delors.^[1]

The first President of the Bank was Wim Duisenberg, the former president of De Nederlandsche Bank, who was succeeded in November 2003 by Jean-Claude Trichet, former head of Banque de France. Duisenberg has been the head of the EMI (taking over from Alexandre Lamfalussy of Belgium). However the French government wished Trichet to be the first ECB president, stating that as Germany had the seat of the ECB then the Presidency should fall to France. This was opposed by the German, Dutch and Belgian governments who saw Duisenberg as a guarantor of a strong euro.^[2]

Tensions were abated by an unwritten agreement in which Duisenberg would stand down before the end of his mandate and be replaced by Trichet. The remaining members of the executive board also created tension with the United Kingdom demanding a seat even though it had not joined the eurozone. Under pressure from France three seats were assigned to the largest members, France, Germany and Italy. Spain demanded and was awarded the same treatment with the final seat going to Finland. Despite such a system of appointment the board asserted its independence early on in resisting calls for interest rates and future candidates to it.^[2]

When the ECB was created, it covered a Eurozone of eleven members, since then Greece joined on 2001-01-01 and Slovenia on 2007-01-01 enlarging the bank's scope and the membership of its Governing Council.^[1]

Powers and objectives

The ECB has the exclusive right to set interest rates for the Eurozone.^[3] The primary objective of the ECB and the ESCB is "to maintain price stability" within the Eurozone, in other words to keep inflation low. The present target is to keep inflation below, but close to, 2%.^[4]

Second to this objective, the key tasks of the ECB and ESCB are to define and implement the monetary policy for the eurozone, support the economic policies of the member states, conduct foreign exchange operations (and take care of the foreign reserves of the ESCB) and promote smooth operation of the banking payment system.^[3] Finally, the ESCB also acts according to a market economy with free competition, but the objective of price stability prevails over all others.^[4]

Further more, in this it has the exclusive right to authorise the issuance of euro banknotes. Member states can issue euro coins but the amount must be authorised by the ECB beforehand (upon the introduction of the euro, the ECB also had exclusive right to issue coins^[3]). The bank must also co-operate within the EU and internationally with third bodies and entities. Finally it is responsible for maintaining a stable financial system and monitoring the banking sector.^[3] The latter can be seen, for example, in the banks intervention during the 2007 credit crisis when it injected billions of euros into the financial system to stabilise the financial system.^[5]

In particular, the monetary functions involve: the opening of accounts for credit institutions, public entities and other market entities; open market and credit operations; requiring credit institutions to hold minimum reserves, regulating to create an efficient and sound clearing and payments system; and co-operating with third country central banks, credit institutions and international organisations.^[4]

Organisation

The design of the ECB was modelled on the German Bundesbank, in particular on its political independence.^[7] It is governed by a Governing Council and the Executive Board. There is also a General Council. The bank has independence from any European or national institution and also holds financial independence by means of a separate budget drawn from national central banks. These bodies also govern the ESCB, which is the ECB plus all the NCBs of the EU (the "Eurosystem" is the ECB plus the NCBs inside the Eurozone).^[8]

The Governing Council is the supreme decision making body of the ECB. It is composed of the members of the executive board and the governors of the NCBs which have adopted the euro. The Council is responsible for taking decisions on monetary policy, interest rates and the reserves of the ESCB. It also responsible in other matters, such as authorises the issue of banknotes and in advising other institutions on draft legislation. It meets at least ten times a year and meets can only be attended by members and the Council President and Commission President. In voting each member has one vote (the Council and Commission presidents do not vote) and decisions are taken by a simple majority.^[8][9][4]

The Executive Board is responsible for the implementation of monetary policy defined by the Governing Council and the day-to-day running of the bank. In this it issues decisions to NCBs and may also exercise powers delegated to it by the Governing Council. It is comprised of the President of the Bank (currently Jean-Claude Trichet), a vice president and four other members. They are all appointed by common accord of the eurozone governments for a non-renewable eight year term.By a tacit understanding arrived at in 2005, four of these six seats are currently reserved for the Eurozone's four big central banks of France, Germany, Italy and Spain.^[10]

The General Council is a body dealing with transitional issues of euro adoption, for example fixing the exchange rates of currencies being replaced by the euro, (continuing the tasks of the former EMI). It exists until all states adopt the euro, at which point it would be dissolved. It is composed of the President and vice president together with the governors of all the NCBs of the EU.^[9][11]

Independence and future

The ECB is designed to be independent of political intervention, both from EU institutions and from member states. It also has financial independence by virtue of having its own budget, separate from the EU budget, sourced from the NCBs.^[12] Its political independence was an attribute taken from the bank it was modelled after, the German Bundesbank^[7] due to a consensus amongst economists that an independent central bank is the best way to avoid manipulation of the macroeconomy for political purposes.^[13] Further more, not only must the bank not seek influence, but EU institutions and national governments are bound by the treaties to respect this principle in not themselves seeking to influence the decision making bodies of the ECB.^[12]

This is also aided by the members of the bodies having security of tenure. For example the minimum term of office for a NCB governor is five years and members of the executive board have a non-renewable eight year term.^[12] To offer some accountability, the ECB is bound to publish reports on its activities and has to address its annual report to the European Parliament, European Commission, Council of the European Union and European Council.^[14] The European Parliament also gets to hear and issue their opinion on candidates to the executive board.^[15]

However the policy of independence has come under some criticism. In 2001, a UK treasury official argued that problems could be caused by the ECB setting its own interests rates due to concern about disagreement between the 12 finance ministers. In comparison, in the UK system rates are set by the government.^[4] Despite the ECB controlling monetary policy, economic policy remains national and hence some viewed that there was an insufficient counterbalance to the ECB (such as a EU Treasury) and hence proposed an economic government for the Eurozone (as Ecofin, the nearest comparison, represented all the EU rather than just the Eurozone). Concerns over how any such body would affect the independence of the ECB led to a watered down proposals of an "Ecofin council" to discuss such matters.^[2]

The bank's independence has notably come under intense criticism since the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as French President. Sarkozy has sought to make the ECB more susceptible to political influence, extend its mandate to focus on growth and job creation and has frequently criticised the banks policies on interest rates and over the 2007 credit crisis. In response Trichet and national leaders warned Sarkozy off undermining the principle of independence.^[17][18][19]

Concerns have also been raised over the Lisbon Treaty which, like the European Constitution, will make the ECB a formal institution of the EU. However, unlike the constitution, the Lisbon Treaty does not include an article ensuring the bank's independence. Trichet has expressed that without such a guarantee the bank would be bound by the same code as the other institutions, to cooperate and pursue a common agenda. This may encourage leaders to put political pressure on the banks decisions.^[20]

Location

The bank is based in Frankfurt, the largest financial centre in the Eurozone. Its location in the city is fixed by the Amsterdam Treaty along with other major institutions.^[21] In the city, the bank currently occupies Frankfurt's Eurotower until its purpose built headquarters are built.^[21]

On January 5 2003, a man stole a small motor glider and flew it over down town Frankfurt, circling skyscrapers and threatening to crash into the ECB. He landed safely after about two hours and was arrested. The man, a 31-year-old mentally disturbed German student named Franz Strambach, told a television station he wanted to call attention to Judith Resnik, a U.S. astronaut killed in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.^[22]

In 1999 an international architecture competition was launched by the bank to design a new building. It was won by a Vienna-based architectural office called Coop Himmelbau. The building will be approximately 180 metres tall, (old building is 148 m) as well as other secondary buildings and a landscaped site on the site of the former wholesale market (Großmarkthalle) in the eastern part of Frankfurt am Main. The main construction work will commence in October 2008, with finalisation scheduled for before the end of 2011.^[23][24] It is expected that the building will become an architectural symbol for Europe and is designed to cope with double the amount of staff who operate in the Eurotower.^[21]

References

External links

• (21 languages) European Central Bank, official website
• New ECB Premises, official website
• The European Central Bank, European NAvigator
• European Central Bank: history, role and functions, ECB website
• Tokyo ahead, Historical currency charts based on the data published daily by the ECB
• ECB Intelligent guess, Historical bank rate (since 2000) based on the data published by the ECB

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