Executive Board member Mersch with scheduled speech in Frankfurt 30 March

  • ECB independence is unchanged
  • protects policy function
  • independence shields central banks

Mersch is delivering a speech at the "Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for Europe and the United States"

He concludes :

"To conclude, the rationale of the principle of central bank independence, as set out in the Treaty and interpreted by the CJEU, is to protect the ECB from political influence primarily when defining and implementing the Eurosystem's monetary policy.

The additional mandates and functions conferred on the ECB after the financial crisis with regard to micro- and macroprudential supervision and crisis management are not covered by the very high level of independence provided to the ECB under Article 130 of the Treaty. Nor does it apply to the contributory role of the ECB with regard to financial stability under Article 127(5) of the Treaty, as the ECB is not the policymaker in this field."

Full speech here ( warning, it's a long one !)