Brussels, 18/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - For the first time since its creation, the ECB will publish regular accounts of the monetary policy discussions of the Governing Council.
These reports will be published one month after each meeting of the Governing Council, starting from the meeting to be held on Thursday, 22 January 2015. They will contain “an overview of financial market, economic and monetary developments” and will then be followed by “a summary of the discussion, in an unattributed form, on the economic and monetary analyses and on the monetary policy stance”, the European institution announced in a press release published on Thursday 18 December.
According to the ECB, “the aim is to provide the rationale behind monetary policy decisions and enable members of the public to improve their understanding of the Governing Council's assessment of the economy and its policy responses in the light of evolving conditions”.
When Lithuania joins the eurozone on 1 January 2015, the Governing Council will consist of 25 members (six members of the ECB's Executive Board and the national central bank governors of the 19 eurozone countries). Meetings will move to a new six-week cycle.
From the start of next year, decision-making within the Governing Council will comply with a new rotation system (EUROPE 11158). As well as the votes of the six members of the Executive Board of the ECB, only 15 voters will be authorised. There will be two groups in place: - 'group 1', made up of five large countries (Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands), which will share four votes between them; - 'group 2', consisting of the other 14 countries, which will share 11 votes. In January, for 'group 1', the Spanish central bank will give up its voting right. In 'group 2', the Estonian, Greek and Irish banks will do likewise. (MB)