Text A. ORGANISATION OF THE EUROPEAN SYSTEM OF CENTRAL BANKS (ESCB)

The ESCB is composed of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks (NCBs) of the European Union member states. In accordance with the ESCB Statute, the primary objective of the ESCB is to maintain price stability.

There are three main political and economic reasons why a system was established to carry out central bank functions for the euro, and not a single central bank:

1. The establishment of a single central bank for the whole euro area (possibly concentrating central bank business in one single place) would not have been acceptable on political grounds.

2. The Eurosystem approach builds on the experience of the NCBs, preserves their institutional set-up, infrastructure and operational capabilities and expertise; moreover, NCBs continue to perform some non-Eurosystem-related tasks.

3. Given the large geographic area of the euro area, it was deemed appropriate to give credit institutions an access point to central banking in each participating Member State. Given the large number of nations and cultures in the euro area, domestic institutions (rather than a supranational one) were considered best placed to serve as points of access to the Eurosystem.

The basic tasks to be carried out by the ESCB are:

· to define and implement the monetary policy of the EU;

· to conduct foreign exchange operations;

· to hold and manage the official foreign reserves of the Member States; and

· to promote the smooth operation of payment systems.

In addition, the ESCB contributes to the smooth conduct of policies relating to supervision of credit institutions and the stability of the financial system. It also has an advisory role on matters which fall within its field of competence. Finally, in order to undertake the tasks of the ESCB, the ECB shall collect the necessary statistical information.

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