The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) is composed of the European Central
Bank (ECB) and the EU national central banks (the NCBs). However, all memberstates
in EU do not participate in the Euro area, though they are still members of the ESCB,
and are allowed to conduct their national monetary policies, but they do not take part in
the decision-making in the Euro-area.
The main objective of the ESCB is to maintain price stability, ie counteract inflation.
Furthermore they should
- define and implement the monetary policy of the Community
- conduct foreign exchange operations
- hold and manage the official foreign reserves of the participating Member States
- promote the smooth operation of payment systems
- to contribute to the smooth conduct of policies pursued by the competent authorities
relating to the prudential supervision of the credit institutions and the stability of the
financial system.
The ECB bodies are:
The General Council is the council where all of the 15 NBCs are members. The General
Council does not have a power to make decisions, but works as an advisory body of the
ECB, along with collection of statistical information and several other no-decision-tasks.
- the General Council
Willem F. Duisenberg, President of the ECB
Christian Noyer, Vice-President of the ECB
Alfons Verplaetse, Governor, Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale
de Belgique
Bodil Nyboe Andersen, Governor, Danmarks Nationalbank
Hans Tietmeyer, President, Deutsche Bundesbank
Lucas D. Papademos, Governor, Bank of Greece
Luis Ángel Rojo, Governor, Banco de España
Jean-Claude Trichet, Governor, Banque de France
Maurice O’Connell, Governor, Central Bank of Ireland
Antonio Fazio, Governor, Banca d’Italia
Yves Mersch, Director General, Banque centrale du Luxembourg
Nout Wellink, President, De Nederlandsche Bank
Klaus Liebscher, President, Oesterreichische Nationalbank
António José Fernandes de Sousa, Governor, Banco de Portugal
Matti Vanhala, Governor, Suomen Pankki
Urban Bäckström, Governor, Sveriges Riksbank
Edward A. J. George, Governor, Bank of England
The Executive Board the board including the president and the vice president of the
ECB along with four other members. All of these are chosen
"among persons of recognised standing and professional experience in monetary and
banking matters. They are appointed by common accord of the governments of the
Member States at the level of the Heads of State of Government, on a recommendation
from the European Council after it has consulted the European Parliament and the
Governing Council of the ECB (i.e. the Council of the European Monetary Institute for
the first appointments)." The official Euro-site
Today these people have been chosen, and are as follows:
They are:
President: Wim Duisenberg
Vice President: Christian Noyer
Member #1: Eugenio Domingo Solans
Member #2: Sirkka Hämäläinen
Member #3: Otmar Issing
Member #4: Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa
The Governing Council houses the entire Executive Board, including the NCBs which
participate in the EMU, ie everyone but those who are not members in the EMU. The main
responsibilities of the Governing Council are:
- to adopt the guidelines and make the decisions necessary
- to ensure the performance of the tasks entrusted to the ESCB; and
- to formulate the monetary policy of the Community, including, as appropriate,
decisions relating to intermediate monetary objectives, key interest rates and the supply
of reserves in the ESCB, and to establish the necessary guidelines for their
implementation.
- the Governing Council
Willem F. Duisenberg, President of the ECB
Christian Noyer, Vice-President of the ECB
Eugenio Domingo Solans, Member of the Executive
Board of the ECB
Sirkka Hämäläinen, Member of the
Executive Board of the ECB
Otmar Issing, Member of the Executive Board of
the ECB
Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Member of the Executive
Board of the ECB
Alfons Verplaetse, Governor, Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale
de Belgique
Hans Tietmeyer, President, Deutsche Bundesbank
Luis Ángel Rojo, Governor, Banco de España
Jean-Claude Trichet, Governor, Banque de France
Maurice O’Connell, Governor, Central Bank of Ireland
Antonio Fazio, Governor, Banca d’Italia
Yves Mersch, Director General, Banque centrale du Luxembourg
Nout Wellink, President, De Nederlandsche Bank
Klaus Liebscher, President, Oesterreichische Nationalbank
António José Fernandes de Sousa, Governor, Banco de Portugal
Matti Vanhala, Governor, Suomen Pankki
The ESCB is an independent system of banks. Neither the Executive Board nor the
Governing Council and the General Council may take any obectives, orders or
instructions from any external body, not even from other bodies of the EU.
Any disputes within the ESCB should be settled by the European Court of Justice.
The the NBCs will also provide the ECB with foreign currency reserves other than the
Member States', euro, IMF (International Monetary Found) reserves and SDR:s , up to a value
of 50,000 million Euro. The ECB's capital is 5,000 million Euro.
