The European Central Bank is a supranational institution and an independent legal entity. It has its own Statute,
which has been added as a protocol to the Treaty establishing the European Union and which can be amended only by the mutual agreement
of the Member States. Pursuant to the Treaty, the ECB has the sole right to authorise the issue of euro banknotes. There are 1,350
employees in the ECB from all 27 Member States.
The
ECB Governing Council
consists of the members of the ECB's Executive Board and the governors of the central banks of the euro area countries. The meetings
are held twice a month - usually on every first and third Thursday of the month. Monetary policy issues are usually discussed only at
the first meeting of the month. The President of the Council of the European Union and one member from the European Commission may also
participate in the meetings, but only the members of the ECB Governing Council have the right to vote. Every member has one vote. The
ECB's financial issues are an exception - the decisions are made by a simple majority. If the votes are divided equally, the President
of the ECB has the deciding vote. The main duties of the Governing Council are the following:
- Development of the euro area monetary policy, i.e. setting the key interest rates of the euro area;
- Adoption of guidelines and decisions related to the performance of the tasks of the Eurosystem.
The ECB Executive Board
consists of the President and the Vice-President of the ECB and four other members. The main duties of the Executive Board are the
following:
- Preparation of the Governing Council's meetings;
- Implementation of the euro area monetary policy in accordance with the Governing Council's guidelines and decisions;
instruction of national central banks;
- Daily management of the ECB;
- Exercising of powers (incl. regulatory powers) delegated to the Executive Board by the Governing Council.
The ECB General Council
comprises the President and Vice-President of the ECB and the governors of the national central banks of the EU countries. Other
members of the Executive Board, the President of the Council of the European Union and one member from the European Commission, may
participate in the meetings of the General Council without the right to vote. The meetings usually take place once every three months
in Frankfurt. The General Council is not responsible for the euro area monetary policy decisions. It performs the tasks taken over from
the European Monetary Institute, which the ECB has to fulfil in the third phase of the EMU until all the EU Member States have adopted
the euro. Thus, the key obligations of the General Council are the following:
- Compilation of Convergence Reports on the progress of non-euro area EU Member States;
- Provision of guidance in preparing for the adoption of the euro;
- Participation in the advisory functions of the ESCB and assistance in the collection of statistical data.
