Accountability
The ECB is an independent institution which has discretion to use its instruments as necessary to carry out its tasks and fulfil its mandate. Accountability is the necessary counterpart to that independence.
The ECB explains its decisions and underlying reasoning to EU citizens and their elected representatives. On this basis, they can then form a judgement on the ECB’s performance against its objectives, which are specified in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
ObjectivesOur accountability framework
Under the Treaty, the ECB is primarily accountable to the European Parliament as the representation of EU citizens, but also has to report regularly to the Council of the EU, which represents Member State governments. This is also reflected in the Statute of the ESCB.
The ECB has developed a strong and comprehensive accountability framework over the years, which goes beyond the Treaty requirements.
| Hearings and exchanges of views | The ECB’s President participates in quarterly hearings of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament. Other Executive Board members also participate in hearings of this Committee to explain the ECB’s reasoning and decisions on specific topics. Webcasts: hearings at the European Parliament |
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| Written questions | Members of the European Parliament can address written questions to the ECB. Letters to MEPs |
| Annual Report | The ECB submits an annual report on its tasks, the activities of the ESCB and the Eurosystem’s monetary policy to the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, the European Commission and the European Council. The report is presented each year to the European Parliament by the Vice-President of the ECB in a dedicated session of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and by the President on the occasion of a plenary debate. The annual accounts of the ECB are a part of the annual report. Read our latest Annual Report |
ECB Banking Supervision and accountability
The ECB’s accountability for its banking supervision tasks is subject to a specific regime set down in the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) Regulation.
How the supervisory accountability requirements are to be fulfilled in practice is clarified in:
- an Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament and the ECB
- a Memorandum of Understanding between the Council of the EU and the ECB
Other information channels
Building on the Treaty’s requirements and going further, the ECB has developed other channels of communication over the years to make its decisions transparent to the European public and so that people are better able to understand and judge them.
| Economic Bulletin | The Economic Bulletin (formerly Monthly Bulletin) presents the economic and monetary information which forms the basis for the Governing Council’s policy decisions. It is published eight times a year, two weeks after each monetary policy meeting. |
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| Weekly financial statements | The Eurosystem’s consolidated weekly financial statement provides information on monetary policy operations, foreign exchange operations and investment activities. |
| Press conferences | The ECB holds press conferences after each Governing Council monetary policy meeting setting key interest rates for the euro area, i.e. every six weeks. |
| Monetary policy accounts | The monetary policy accounts of the Governing Council’s discussions are published four weeks after each monetary policy meeting. |
| Articles, interviews and speeches | The members of the Executive Board regularly communicate with the public by way of articles, interviews and speeches. These are published on the ECB’s website. |