CHAPTER 3: ORGANISATION OF THE EUROPEAN SYSTEM OF CENTRAL BANKS

Article 7 Independence

In accordance with Article 3-188 of the Constitution, when exercising the powers and carrying out the tasks and duties conferred upon them by the Constitution and this Statute, neither the European Central Bank, nor a national central bank, nor any member of their decision‑making bodies shall seek or take instructions from Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies, from any government of a Member State or from any other body. The Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies 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 European Central Bank or of the national central banks in the performance of their tasks.

Article 8

General principle The European System of Central Banks shall be governed by the decision‑making bodies of the European Central Bank.

Article 9

The European Central Bank

1. The European Central Bank, which, in accordance with Article I-30(3) of the Constitution, has 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.
2. The European Central Bank shall ensure that the tasks conferred upon the European System of Central Banks under Article 3-185(2), (3) and (5) of the Constitution are implemented either by itself pursuant to this Statute or through the national central banks pursuant to Article 12(1) and Article 14.
3. In accordance with Article 3-187(1) of the Constitution, the decision-making bodies of the European Central Bank shall be the Governing Council and the Executive Board. Article 10 The Governing Council
4. In accordance with Article 3-382(1) of the Constitution, the Governing Council shall comprise the members of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank and the Governors of the national central banks of the Member States without a derogation as referred to in Article 3-197 of the Constitution.
5. Each member of the Governing Council shall have one vote. As from the date on which the number of members of the Governing Council exceeds 21, each member of the Executive Board shall have one vote and the number of governors with a voting right shall be 15. The latter voting rights shall be assigned and shall rotate as follows: (a) as from the date on which the number of governors exceeds 15 and until it reaches 22, the governors shall be allocated to two groups, according to a ranking of the size of the share of their national central bank’s Member State in the aggregate gross domestic product at market prices and in the total aggregated balance sheet of the monetary financial institutions of the Member States whose currency is the euro. The shares in the aggregate gross domestic product at market prices and in the total aggregated balance sheet of the monetary financial institutions shall be assigned weights of 5/6 and 1/6, respectively. The first group shall be composed of five governors and the second group of the remaining governors. The frequency of voting rights of the governors allocated to the first group shall not be lower than the frequency of voting rights of those of the second group. Subject to the previous sentence, the first group shall be assigned four voting rights and the second group eleven voting rights (b) as from the date on which the number of governors reaches 22, the governors shall be allocated to three groups according to a ranking based on the criteria laid down in (a). The first group shall be composed of five governors and shall be assigned four voting rights. The second group shall be composed of half of the total number of governors, with any fraction rounded up to the nearest integer, and shall be assigned eight voting rights. The third group shall be composed of the remaining governors and shall be assigned three voting rights; (c) within each group, the governors shall have their voting rights for equal amounts of time; (d) for the calculation of the shares in the aggregate gross domestic product at market prices Article 29(2) shall apply. The total aggregated balance sheet of the monetary financial institutions shall be calculated in accordance with the statistical framework applying in the Union at the time of the calculation; (e) whenever the aggregate gross domestic product at market prices is adjusted in accordance with Article 29(3), or whenever the number of governors increases, the size and/or composition of the groups shall be adjusted in accordance with the principles laid down in this subparagraph; (f) the Governing Council, acting by a two-thirds majority of all its members, with and without a voting right, shall take all measures necessary for the implementation of the principles laid down in this subparagraph and may decide to postpone the start of the rotation system until the date on which the number of governors exceeds 18. The right to vote shall be exercised in person. 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 attending meetings of the Governing Council for a prolonged period may appoint an alternate as a member of the Governing Council. The first and second subparagraphs are without prejudice to the voting rights of all members of the Governing Council, with and without a voting right, under paragraph 3 and Article 40(2) and (3). Save as otherwise provided for in this Statute, the Governing Council shall act by a simple majority of the members having a voting right. In the event of a tie, the President shall have the casting vote. In order for the Governing Council to vote, there shall be a quorum of two thirds of the members having a voting right. If the quorum is not met, the President may convene an extraordinary meeting at which decisions may be taken without regard to the quorum.
6. For any decisions to be taken under Articles 28, 29, 30, 32, 33 and 49, the votes in the Governing Council shall be weighted according to the national central banks’ shares in the subscribed capital of the European Central Bank. The weighting 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 European Central Bank and represent at least half of the shareholders. If a Governor is unable to be present, he may nominate an alternate to cast his weighted vote.
7. The proceedings of the meetings shall be confidential. The Governing Council may decide to make the outcome of its deliberations public.
8. The Governing Council shall meet at least ten times a year.

Article 11 The Executive Board

1. In accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 3-382(2) of the Constitution, 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.
2. In accordance with Article 3-382(2) of the Constitution, the President, the Vice-President and the other members of the Executive Board shall be appointed by the European Council, acting by a qualified majority, from among persons of recognised standing and professional experience in monetary or banking matters, on a recommendation from the Council and after consulting the European Parliament and the Governing Council. Their term of office shall be eight years and shall not be renewable. Only nationals of Member States may be members of the Executive Board.
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 European Central Bank 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.
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.
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).

The Executive Board shall be responsible for the current business of the European Central Bank. 7. Any vacancy on the Executive Board shall be filled by the appointment of a new member in accordance with paragraph 2.

Article 12

Responsibilities of the decision‑making bodies

1. The Governing Council shall adopt the guidelines and take the decisions necessary to ensure the performance of the tasks entrusted to the European System of Central Banks under the Constitution and this Statute. The Governing Council shall formulate the monetary policy of the Union including, as appropriate, decisions relating to intermediate monetary objectives, key interest rates and the supply of reserves in the European System of Central Banks, 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 European Central Bank shall have recourse to the national central banks to carry out operations which form part of the tasks of the European System of Central Banks.
2. The Executive Board shall have responsibility for the preparation of meetings of the Governing Council.
3. The Governing Council shall adopt Rules of Procedure which determine the internal organisation of the European Central Bank and its decision‑making bodies.
4. The Governing Council shall exercise the advisory functions referred to in Article 4.
5. The Governing Council shall take the decisions referred to in Article 6. Article 13 The President
6. The President or, in his absence, the Vice‑President shall chair the Governing Council and the Executive Board of the European Central Bank.
7. Without prejudice to Article 38, the President or his nominee shall represent the European Central Bank externally. Article 14 National central banks
8. In accordance with Article 3-189 of the Constitution, each Member State shall ensure that its national legislation, including the statutes of its national central bank, is compatible with the Constitution and this Statute.
9. 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 five 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 the Constitution 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 the knowledge of the latter, as the case may be.
10. The national central banks are an integral part of the European System of Central Banks and shall act in accordance with the guidelines and instructions of the European Central Bank. The Governing Council shall take the necessary steps to ensure compliance with the guidelines and instructions of the European Central Bank, and shall require that any necessary information be given to it.
11. 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 European System of Central Banks. 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 European System of Central Banks.

Article 15 Reporting commitments

1. The European Central Bank shall draw up and publish reports on the activities of the European System of Central Banks at least quarterly.
2. A consolidated financial statement of the European System of Central Banks shall be published each week.
3. In accordance with Article 3-383(3) of the Constitution, the European Central Bank shall address an annual report on the activities of the European System of Central Banks and on the monetary policy of both the previous and the current year to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council and the Commission.
4. The reports and statements referred to in this Article shall be made available to interested parties free of charge.

Article 16

Banknotes In accordance with Article 3-186(1) of the Constitution, the Governing Council shall have the exclusive right to authorise the issue of euro banknotes within the Union. The European Central Bank and the national central banks may issue such notes. The banknotes issued by the European Central Bank and the national central banks shall be the only such notes to have the status of legal tender within the Union.

The European Central Bank shall respect as far as possible existing practices regarding the issue and design of banknotes.