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Governing Council meetings
Monetary policy
General information

The Governing Council

consists of
  • the six members of the Executive Board, plus
  • the governors of all the national central banks (NCBs) from the 12 euro area countries.

Members of the Governing Council

The Governing Council meets once a fortnight.
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The Governing Council meets once a fortnight.
 

Responsibilities

  • to adopt the guidelines and take the decisions necessary to ensure the performance of the tasks entrusted to the Eurosystem;
  • to formulate monetary policy for the euro area. This includes decisions relating to monetary objectives, key interest rates, the supply of reserves in the Eurosystem, and the establishment of guidelines for the implementation of those decisions.
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Meetings and decisions

The Governing Council usually meets twice a month at the Eurotower in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

At its first meeting each month, the Governing Council assesses monetary and economic developments and takes its monthly monetary policy decision. At its second meeting, the Council discusses issues related to other tasks and responsibilities of the ECB and the Eurosystem.

The minutes of the meetings are not published, but the monetary policy decision is announced at a press conference held shortly after the first meeting each month. The President, assisted by the Vice-President, chairs the press conference. back to top

Members

  • Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the ECB (since 1 November 2003)
  • Lucas D. Papademos, Vice-President of the ECB (since 1 June 2002)
  • José Manuel González-Páramo, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB
  • Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, 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
  • Guy Quaden, Governor, Nationale Bank van België / Banque Nationale de Belgique
  • Axel A. Weber, President, Deutsche Bundesbank
  • Nicholas C. Garganas, Governor, Bank of Greece
  • Jaime Caruana, Governor, Banco de España
  • Christian Noyer, Governor, Banque de France
  • John Hurley, Governor, Central Bank & Financial Services Authority of Ireland
  • Antonio Fazio, Governor, Banca d'Italia
  • Yves Mersch, Governor, Banque centrale du Luxembourg
  • Nout Wellink, President, De Nederlandsche Bank
  • Klaus Liebscher, Governor, Oesterreichische Nationalbank
  • Vítor Manuel Ribeiro Constâncio, Governor, Banco de Portugal
  • Matti Louekoski, acting Governor, Suomen Pankki - Finlands Bank
  •  
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Legal basis

See Article 10 of the Statute (of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank) for provisions regarding the Governing Council.
Article 10.1: "In accordance with Article 109a (1) of this Treaty, the Governing Council shall comprise the members of the Executive Board of the ECB and the governors of the national central banks." back to top