ORGANIZATION OF THE ESCB
ARTICLE 7
Independence
In accordance with Article 107 of this Treaty, when exercising the
powers and carrying out the tasks and duties conferred upon them by
this Treaty and this Statute, neither the ECB, nor a national central
bank, nor any member of their decision-making bodies shall seek or
take instructions from Community institutions or bodies, from any
government of a Member State or from any other body. The
Community institutions and bodies and the governments of the
Member States undertake to respect this principle and not to seek to
influence the members of the decision-making bodies of the ECB or of
the national central banks in the performance of their tasks.
ARTICLE 8
General principle
The ESCB shall be governed by the decision-making bodies of the
ECB.
ARTICLE 9
The European Central Bank
9.1. The ECB which, in accordance with Article 106(2) of this Treaty,
shall have legal personality, shall enjoy in each of the Member States
the most extensive legal capacity accorded to legal persons under its
law; it may, in particular, acquire or dispose of movable and
immovable property and may be a party to legal proceedings.
9.2. The ECB shall ensure that the tasks conferred upon the ESCB
under Article 105(2), (3) and (5) of this Treaty are implemented either
by its own activities pursuant to this Statute or through the national
central bank pursuant to Articles 12.1 and 14.
9.3 In accordance with Article 106(3) of this Treaty, the decision-
making bodies of the ECB shall be the Governing Council and the
Executive Board.
ARTICLE 10
The Governing Council
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.
10.2. Subject to Article 10.3, only members of the Governing Council
present in person shall have the right to vote. By way of derogation
from this rule, the Rules of Procedure referred to in Article 12.3 may
lay down that members of the Governing Council may cast their vote
by means of teleconferencing. These rules shall also provide that a
member of the Governing Council who is prevented from voting for a
prolonged period may appoint an alternate as a member of the
Governing Council.
Subject to Articles 10.3 and 11.3, each member of the Governing
Council shall have one vote. Save as otherwise provided for in this
Statue, the Governing Council shall act by a simple majority. In the
event of a tie the President shall have the casting vote.
In order for the Governing Council to vote, there shall be quorum of
two-thirds of the members. If the quorum is not met, the President may
convene and extraordinary meeting at which decisions may be taken
without regard to the quorum.
10.3. For any decisions to be taken under Articles 28, 29, 30, 32, 33
and 51, the votes in the Governing Council shall be weighted
according to the national central banks' shares in the subscribed
capital of the ECB. The weight of the votes of the members of the
Executive Board shall be zero. A decision requiring a qualified
majority shall be adopted if the votes cast in favour represent at least
two thirds of the subscribed capital of the ECB and represent at least
half of the shareholders. If a Governor in unable to be present, he may
nominate an alternate to cast his weighted vote.
10.4. The proceedings of the meetings shall be confidential. The
Governing Council may decide to make the outcome of its
deliberations public.
10.5. The Governing Council shall meet at least ten times a year.
ARTICLE 11
The Executive Board
11.1. In accordance with Article 109a(2)(a) of this Treaty, the Executive
Board shall comprise the President, the Vice-President and four other
members.
The members shall perform their duties on a full-time basis. No
member shall engage in any occupation, whether gainful or not,
unless exemption is exceptionally granted by the Governing Council.
11.2. In accordance with Article 109a(2)(b) of this Treaty, the President,
the Vice-President and the other Members of the Executive Board shall
be appointed from among persons of recognized standing and
professional experience in monetary or banking matters by common
accord of the governments of the Member States at the level of the
Heads of State or of government, on a recommendation from the
Council after it has consulted the European Parliament and the
Governing Council.
Their term of office shall be 8 years and shall not be renewable.
Only nationals of Member States may be members of the Executive
Board.
11.3. The terms and conditions of employment of the members of the
Executive Board, in particular their salaries, pensions and other social
security benefits shall be the subject of contracts with the ECB and
shall be fixed by the Governing Council on a proposal from a
Committee comprising three members appointed by the Governing
Council and three members appointed by the Council. The members of
the Executive Board shall not have the right to vote on matters
referred to in this paragraph.
11.4. If a member of the Executive Board no longer fulfils the
conditions required for the performance of his duties or if he has been
guilty of serious misconduct, the Court of Justice may, on application
by the Governing Council or the Executive Board, compulsorily retire
him.
11.5. Each member of the Executive Board present in person shall
have the right to vote and shall have, for that purpose, one vote. Save
as otherwise provided, the Executive Board shall act by a simple
majority of the votes cast. In the event of a tie, the President shall
have the casting vote. The voting arrangements shall be specified in
the Rules of Procedure referred to in Article 12.3.
11.6. The Executive Board shall be responsible for the current
business of the ECB.
11.7. Any vacancy on the Executive Board shall be filled by the
appointment of a new member in accordance with Article 11.2.
ARTICLE 12
Responsibilities of the decision-making bodies
12.1. The Governing Council shall adopt the guidelines and take the
decisions necessary to ensure the performance of the tasks entrusted
to the ESCB under this Treaty and this Statute. The Governing Council
shall formulate the monetary policy of the Community including, as
appropriate, decisions relating to intermediate monetary objectives,
key interest rates and the supply of reserves in the ESCB and shall
establish the necessary guidelines for their implementation.
The Executive Board shall implement monetary policy in accordance
with the guidelines and decisions laid down by the Governing Council.
In doing so the Executive Board shall give the necessary instructions
to national central banks. In addition the Executive Board may have
certain powers delegated to it where the Governing Council so
decides.
To the extent deemed possible and appropriate and without prejudice
to the provisions of this Article, the ECB shall have recourse to the
national central banks to carry out operations which form part of the
tasks of the ESCB.
12.2. The Executive Board shall have the responsibility for the
preparation of meetings of the Governing Council.
12.3. The Governing Council shall adopt Rules of Procedure which
determine the internal organization of the ECB and its decision-making
bodies.
12.4. The Governing Council shall exercise the advisory functions
referred to Article 4.
12.5. The Governing Council shall take the decisions referred to Article
6.
ARTICLE 13
The President
13.1. The President or, in his absence, the Vice-President shall chair
the governing Council and the Executive Board of the ECB.
13.2. Without prejudice to Article 39, the President or his nominee
shall represent the ECB externally.
ARTICLE 14
National Central Banks
14.1. In accordance with Article 108 of this Treaty, each Member State
shall ensure, at the latest at the date of the establishment of the ESCB,
that its national legislation, including the statues of its national central
bank, is compatible with this Treaty and this Statute.
14.2. The statutes of the national central banks shall, in particular,
provide that the term of office of a Governor of a national central bank
shall be no less than 5 years.
A Governor may be relieved from office only if he no longer fulfils the
conditions required for the performance of his duties or if he has been
guilty of serious misconduct. A decision to this effect may be referred
to the Court of Justice by the Governor concerned or the Governing
Council on grounds of infringement of this Treaty or of any rule of law
relating to its application. Such proceedings shall be instituted within
two months of the publication of the decision or of its notification to the
plaintiff or, in the absence thereof, of the day on which it came to
knowledge of the latter, as the case may be.
14.3. The national central banks are an integral part of the ESCB and
shall act in accordance with the guidelines and instructions of ECB.
The Governing Council shall take the necessary steps to ensure
compliance with the guidelines and instructions of the ECB, and shall
require that any necessary information be given to it.
14.4 National central banks may perform functions other than those
specified in this Statute unless the Governing Council finds, by a
majority of two thirds of the votes cast, that these interfere with the
objectives and tasks of the ESCB. Such functions shall be performed
on the responsibility and liability of national central banks and shall
not be regarded as being part of the functions of the ESCB.
ARTICLE 15
Reporting commitments.
15.1. The ECB shall draw up and publish reports on the activities of
the ESCB at least quarterly.
15.2. A consolidated financial statement of the ESCB shall be
published each week.
15.3. In accordance with Article 109b(3) of this Treaty, the ECB shall
address an annual report on the activities of the ESCB and on the
monetary policy of both the previous and the current year to the
European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, and also the
European Council.
15.4. The reports and statements referred to in this Article shall be
made available to interested parties free of charge.
ARTICLE 16
Bank notes.
In accordance with Article 105a(1) of this Treaty, the Governing Council
shall have the exclusive right to authorize the issue of bank notes
within the Community. The ECB and the national central banks may
issue such notes. The bank notes issued by the ECB and the national
central banks shall be the only such notes to have the status of legal
tender within the Community.
The ECB shall respect as far as possible existing practices regarding
the issue and design of bank notes.