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| Euro - Background / ECB |
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Inside the ECB
Published: August 8 2001 15:58GMT | Last Updated: February 8 2002 20:15GMT
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| Background to the ECB |
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| Introduction |
| On January 1 2002 the euro stopped being a phantom currency known
almost exclusively to bankers, foreign exchange traders and treasury
officials and entered circulation as notes and coins used
by 300m Europeans in 12 countries. Since it was set up in June 1998,
the European Central Bank has worked to marry and mesh different
central banking institutions, procedures and cultures to build the
monetary pillar for the European Union’s growing economic integration.
The judgments of how it has done and what the future holds are as
diverse as the national and regional cultures it serves. |
| Overview |
Anxious midwife awaits birth of the euro
It was in 1950 that Jacques Rueff, one of France's most influential liberal thinkers and economists of the 20th century, declared: "Europe will become united through its money or not at all." That this prophecy was put to the test, with the introduction of euro banknotes and coins from January 1, is in no small measure due to the hard work of the European Central Bank.
Read more |
| ECB succession |
Duisenberg to step down as ECB chief in 2003
Wim Duisenberg has finally shown his hand. By setting a firm
date for his departure as president of the European Central
Bank, the Dutchman has ended the uncertainty which began on
the very day he assumed office almost four years ago. Read more |
Q&A: How to find an ECB president
Following Wim Duisenberg's
announcement that he will
retire as ECB president, the
hunt is on for his successor. Read more |
Comment
A protracted squabble over the top jobs at the European Central Bank would damage the
young institution's authority and bring the European Union into disrepute. National
governments must do everything to avoid an ugly showdown. Read more |
Intrigue engulfs pact to share top job
"Deplorable" and "irritating" are two of the milder adjectives used by European Central Bank policymakers to describe the debate over who will succeed Wim Duisenberg as ECB president. Read more |
How the ECB works
The European Central Bank has been much criticised for the opacity of its deliberations. However, over the past year or two a picture has emerged of how it goes about its business. Read more |
Who speaks for the ECB?
The European Central Bank has had a long and only partly successful struggle to persuade repesentatives of its member national banks to make fewer public comments on monetary policy. Read more |
How the ECB is viewed from afar
London's attitude to the European Central Bank is similar to its perspective on other European institutions. Read more |
The Governing Council's balancing act
With 18 members representing 12 countries, each with varying rates of inflation and economic growth, the ECB's Governing Council is one of the most unusual monetary policymaking bodies in the world. Read more |
Book Review: Casting light on the ECB
Apart from a few permanently hostile critics, most ECB-watchers would find little cause for complaint in the bank's steering of interest rates over the past three years. The bank's communications skills, by contrast, are widely viewed as a weak spot. Tony Barber reviews Monetary Policy in the Euro Area by Otmar Issing, Vitor Gaspar, Ignazio, Angeloni
and Oreste Tristani and finds the attempt to explain ECB thinking answers some questions. Read more |
| Executive board members CVs |
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