Governing Council of the European Central Bank
The Governing Council of the European Central Bank is the main decision-making body of the European Central Bank (ECB) and has "sole responsibility" for formulating monetary policy in the Eurozone.[citation needed] It comprises the members of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank and the governors of the national central banks (NCBs) of the Eurozone's 19 member states.
Responsibilities[]
The Governing Council is responsible for formulating monetary policy for the Eurozone. Specifically:[1]
- Carry out tasks assigned by the ECB and Eurosystem
- Formulate monetary policy by making decisions about key interest rates, inflation rate (keep it below but close to 2% over the medium term),[2] and the supply of the Eurosystem's reserves
- Adopt decisions that are necessary to carry out the new banking supervision duties as well as complete draft decisions proposed by the Supervisory Board, which are legally binding for banks under the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM)
Meetings[]
In general, the Governing Council (GC) meets twice a month at the Eurotower in Frankfurt, Germany. The first meeting is the most important and is devoted to the assessment of economic and monetary developments, and every six weeks the ECB President conducts a press conference to explain monetary policy decisions.[1] According to a 2014 study of the euro-dollar foreign exchange market on days when the GC announces interest rate decisions, there is "strong evidence" that these monetary policy announcements "contain significant news content" based on trading activity.[3]
At the second meeting, the GC discusses issues concerning other tasks of the ECB and the Eurosystem. The ECB publishes the accounts of the GC's monetary policy meetings.[1]
According to the Treaty of Rome, the President of the European Council may submit a motion for deliberation to the Governing Council of the ECB.[4]
Composition[]
The Governing Council consists of:[1]
- Six members of the ECB's Executive Board
- Governors of the national central banks of the 19 Eurozone countries
- President of the European Council and a representative from the European Commission may attend the meetings as observers, but they lack voting rights[5]
Current members[]
| Name | Role | Terms of office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Board |  Christine Lagarde
|
President | 1 November 2019 | 31 October 2027 |
 Luis de Guindos
|
Vice President | 1 June 2018 | 31 May 2026 | |
 Fabio Panetta
|
Member of the Executive Board | 1 January 2020 | 31 December 2027 | |
 Philip R. Lane
|
Member of the Executive Board
Chief Economist |
1 June 2019 | 31 May 2027 | |
 Yves Mersch
|
Member of the Executive Board | 15 December 2012 | 14 December 2020 | |
 Isabel Schnabel
|
Member of the Executive Board | 1 January 2020 | 31 December 2027 | |
| National Governors | Pablo Hernández de Cos
|
11 June 2018 | 10 June 2024 | |
| Jens Weidmann
|
1 May 2011 | 31 April 2027 | ||
|
2 January 2019 | |||
 Yannis Stournaras
|
20 June 2014 | June 2020 | ||
| François Villeroy de Galhau
|
1 November 2015 | November 2021 | ||
| [de]
|
||||
 Robert Holzmann
|
1 September 2019 | 31 August 2025 | ||
 Jozef Makúch
|
12 January 2010 | |||
 [de]
|
6 April 2011 | April 2021 | ||
 Olli Rehn
|
12 July 2018 | |||
 Carlos Costa
|
7 June 2010 | June 2020 | ||
 Mario Vella
|
1 July 2016 | 30 June 2021 | ||
|
1 January 2019 | 31 December 2024 | ||
 Madis Müller
|
June 2019 | June 2026 | ||
 Ilmārs Rimšēvičs
|
2001 | |||
 Klaas Knot
|
1 July 2011 | May 2025 | ||
| Ignazio Visco
|
1 November 2011 | November 2023 | ||
|
11 April 2019 | April 2024 | ||
| Gabriel Makhlouf
|
July 2019 | |||
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Governing Council". European Central Bank. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- ^ European Central Bank. "Monetary Policy". Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ Michael J. Sager; Mark P. Taylor (November–December 2004). "The Impact of European Central Bank Governing Council Announcements on the Foreign Exchange Market: A Microstructural Analysis". Journal of International Money and Finance. 23 (7–8): 1043–1051. doi:10.1016/j.jimonfin.2004.08.002.
- ^ "Treaty Establishing the European Community - Part Three: Community Policies - Title VI: Economic and Monetary Policy - Chapter 3: Institutional Provisions - Article 109b". EUR-Lex. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- ^ "Article 284, Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union". EUR-Lex. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- ^ "Members of the Governing Council". Archived from the original on 17 July 2004. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- European Central Bank