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Publishers Abstract:
The financial and sovereign debt crisis has had a great impact on the relationship between the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Member States of the eurozone. It can be said that in several aspects they are witnessing a new European Central Bank. The crisis has prompted the ECB to adopt a number of new and unconventional policy measures and led to several new institutional practices. Decision making and voting behavior inside the Governing Council has changed, new relationships are being established with political actors, and new instances occur of ECB pressure on Member States to adopt policy reform. The relationship between central banks and governments is traditionally studied from the perspective of central bank independence, with many economists' contributions measuring this independence, using quantitative analysis and often focusing on the formal legal framework. Also, the development of a Single Supervisory Mechanism, including the conferral of certain supervisory tasks over credit institutions on the ECB, has raised concerns over its compatibility with ECB independence.
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