The big event of the week is nearly upon us so let's take a look at the people who matter at the ECB meeting and what their view on monetary policy are

Let me set out the ground rules;

There's 25 members of the governing council. Of that, 6 are on the executive board and 19 are the central bank heads from the Eurozone. All 25 members are present at the meetings. The executive board always has a vote and a rotation is in place for the other 19, so only 15/19 have an actual vote each meeting.

The important part: Council meetings rarely get to the point of having to vote. In concert with Draghi, Peter Praet will effectively table a proposal for action which all 25 members will give a view on. Draghi will look to take the consensus view. If that view is for a formal vote then that will happen, otherwise he can just run with the balance of views in deciding what action to take. It's really up to Draghi, through Praet, to decide how strong they want to go and therefore what may or may not swing support their way

So who are the 25 members and what have they been saying?

Let's start with the executive board

Mario Draghi - Dove

Not much needs to be said. he's Mr Do Whatever It takes. He's given us what the ECB is looking at in it's tool box and now it's time for his sales pitch

Vitor Constancio - Dove

Draghi's right hand man and probably his strongest ally, always looking down not up and said the Dec decision would be based on the latest inflation data available.

We know how that went from the latest inflation numbers

He's not afraid to do more and is not worried about negative rates

Sabine Lautenschlager - Hawk

German. Need I say more. Definitely in the wait and see brigade and worried about the risks of doing more

Benoit Coeure - Dove

Another in Draghi's dove club. While happy to pump he's been keeping more of an eye on the risks of loose policy recently

Another pessimist on downside risks and said he wants to see the data into Dec. His strongest comment came before QE even started

"If we haven't achieved what we want to achieve, then we'll have to do more, or we have to do it for longer"

Yves Mersch - Central

Wasn't overly convinced about QE from the start but has said it's been successful and the economy is showing resilience. He doesn't give much away but always wants to examine the story so far, look at the long term picture and wants to be fully prepared before taking the next steps, whatever they are. His comments are usually all 'the ECB this and the ECB that' rather than 'I think'

Peter Praet - Dove

The ECB's chief economist and probably one of the most worried about inflation expectations becoming de-anchored

Is not overly bullish on the economy either and said that the lower bound may need to be lower than previously thought

The 19 other members of the council

I'll go with the voters first

Jens Weidmann (Germany) - Hawks hawk

Wait and see. Definite no camp

Luis Maria Linde (Spain) - Hawk

No reason to change for the moment (Sep) But is open to adjusting QE if needed

Ignazio Vosco (Italy) - Dove

Ready to do more

Klaas Knot (Netherlands) - Hawk

In 'wait and see' mode and unlikely to agree to more

Ardo Hansson (Estonia) - Hawk (Could have German blood in him)

Definite no camp. But changed his tune from "doesn't see any convincing reason" in Oct, to "no reason to act now but could be convinced" last week. He also said that there was no need to lower the deposit rate yet

Patrick Honohan (Ireland) - Central

Wants the ECB to keep their foot on the accommodative pedal but is happy with results so far

Yannis Stournaras (Greece) - Probably ignored

No real news on his stance. Not benefitting directly as the ECB aren't buying their bonds. On the hook to the ECB anyway so probably gets told to make the tea

Chrystalla Georghaji (Cyprus) - Carries the milk and sugar for Stournaras

Another country not eligible for QE. ECB started buying Cyprus bonds in July. She's also had other fish to fry with some conflicts of interest allegations against her. Hasn't commented on mon pol much, or ever, as far as I can see

Vistas Vasiliauskas (Lithuania) - Central/dovish

Was in wait and see mode back in Sep but only until the Dec meeting

Ilmars Rimsevics (Latvia) - Hawk

One man the Germans can count on for support, wanted to wait another 6 months in Oct

Gaston Reinesch (Luxembourg) - Who?

Don't think we've ever had a peep from him. No idea what his stance is

Joself Bonnici (Malta) - Central/Hawk

Wait and see mode

He also said in Sep that expectations for more ECB action were overdone. Was worried about the strength of the euro about a year ago so is probably less stressed now

Ewald Nowotny (Austria) - Central

We're never short of a quote from Uncle Ewald. He usually likes to pop up in the midst of a euro rally to snuff it out. But he always bigs up the effects of current mon pol without actually giving us any real clues on what his stance is. He does believe in it wholeheartedly. His main push is for structural and fiscal reforms. On the QE/Mon pol front he seems happy to go along for the ride but mentioned in Oct that it was too soon to talk of a time extension

Carlos Costa (Portugal) - Central

Another one from a program country, although doing well to come out the other side. Doesn't offer much comment on the mon pol side of things

Bostjan Jazbec (Slovenia) - Hawk

Another member on the Germans Christmas card list. Early in Nov he said he doesn't see the need for more stimulus and is one who sees the economy improving

The non voters

Francois Villeroy de Galhau (France) - Dove

Successor of Christian Noyer, who remained in the hawkish camp through his last moments, Galhau is signing a different song

Jan Smets (Belgium) - Dove

All tools are on the table, he said last month

Jozef Makuch (Slovakia) - Central/Hawkish

Last said QE was flexible enough and to say more would be speculative (Sep)

Erki Liikanen (Finland) - Central/Dovish

Committed to the cause but not gung-ho. Ready to extend and in the pessimist camp on risks to the Eurozone

And there we have it. That's the team sheet for the meeting and we have;

  • 7 outright hawks
  • 7 outright doves
  • 4 middle of the road
  • 2 central/doves
  • 2 central/hawks
  • 2 fetching the teas
  • 1 Unknown

Draghi's battle is to see how far he can push to swing the consensus his way but it's also a matter of dealing with the countries that carry the most weight. His main task will be marginalising or soothing the concerns of big opponents like the Germans

Whatever happens it's sure to be a show worth watching when the clock ticks 12.45GMT