One money, many countries

Abstract:

As one of the world's key central banks with huge responsibilities, the European Central Bank (ECB) comes under intense public scrutiny. It exists for all EMU countries but belongs to no particular Member State. It is accountable to the European Parliament, which has had no tradition of oversight of monetary policy. For these reasons there is a need for a regular and rigorous pan-European analysis of the options facing the ECB and the policies adopted.

Monitoring the European Central Bank (MECB) has been set up to meet this need. Written by a team of distinguished academic economists known internationally for their work on macroeconomics and monetary policy, MECB produces a full report and a spring update each year. The full report describes the issues faced by the ECB during the preceding year; assesses the policy choices that were made; and sets out the issues likely to arise during the coming year. The update offers a detailed commentary on the ECB's own annual report. this year's report, the second in the MECB series focuses on two main issues: transparency and accountability, and the supervision of financial institutions. In both areas, the report finds the current position unsatisfactory and it offers specific proposals for policy-makers to consider.