ANNUAL REPORT 2008 - Polymer Bank Notes of the World

their participation in the Eurosystem/ESCBcommittees (see Section 1.5 of this chapter).They may perform non-Eurosystem functions ontheir own responsibility, unless the GoverningCouncil finds that such functions interfere withthe objectives and tasks of the Eurosystem.The Eurosystem and the ESCB are governedby the decision-making bodies of the ECB: theGoverning Council and the Executive Board.The General Council is constituted as a thirddecision-making body of the ECB, for as longas there are EU Member States which havenot yet adopted the euro. The functioning ofthe decision-making bodies is governed bythe Treaty, the Statute of the ESCB and therelevant Rules of Procedure. 2 Decision-makingwithin the Eurosystem and the ESCB iscentralised. However, the ECB and the euroarea NCBs jointly contribute, strategically andoperationally, to attaining the common goalsof the Eurosystem, with due respect to theprinciple of decentralisation in accordance withthe Statute of the ESCB.1.2 THE GOVERNING COUNCILThe Governing Council comprises themembers of the Executive Board of the ECBand the governors of the NCBs of the MemberStates which have adopted the euro. Its mainresponsibilities, as laid down in the Treaty, are:––to adopt the guidelines and take the decisionsnecessary to ensure the performance of thetasks entrusted to the Eurosystem;to formulate the monetary policy of theeuro area, including, as appropriate,decisions relating to intermediate monetaryobjectives, key interest rates and the supplyof reserves in the Eurosystem, and toestablish the necessary guidelines for theirimplementation.The Governing Council meets, as a rule, twicea month at the ECB’s premises in Frankfurtam Main, Germany. It conducts, inter alia, anin-depth assessment of monetary and economicdevelopments and takes related decisionsspecifically at its first meeting of the month,while the second meeting usually focuses onissues related to other tasks and responsibilitiesof the ECB and the Eurosystem. In 2008 twomeetings were held outside Frankfurt: one washosted by the Bank of Greece in Athens and theother by the Nationale Bank van België/BanqueNationale de Belgique in Brussels.When taking decisions on monetary policy andon other tasks of the ECB and the Eurosystem,the members of the Governing Council do notact as national representatives, but in a fullyindependent personal capacity. This is reflectedby the principle of “one member, one vote”applied within the Governing Council. On18 December 2008 the Governing Councildecided to continue its current voting regime 3and to introduce the rotation system only whenthe number of governors of the euro area NCBsexceeds 18. 4 This decision was triggered by theincrease in the number of governors in theGoverning Council to 16 as a result of theadoption of the euro by Slovakia on1 January 2009. At the same time, the Governing2 For the ECB’s Rules of Procedure, see Decision ECB/2004/2of 19 February 2004 adopting the Rules of Procedure of theEuropean Central Bank, OJ L 80, 18.3.2004, p. 33; DecisionECB/2004/12 of 17 June 2004 adopting the Rules of Procedureof the General Council of the ECB, OJ L 230, 30.6.2004,p. 61; and Decision ECB/1999/7 of 12 October 1999 concerningthe Rules of Procedure of the Executive Board of the ECB,OJ L 314, 8.12.1999, p. 34. These rules are also available on theECB’s website.3 As provided for by Article 10.2 of the Statute of the ESCB,which limits the number of governors with a voting right to15 but also foresees the possibility for the Governing Councilto postpone the implementation of the rotation system until thenumber of governors exceeds 18.4 See the press release of 18 December 2008 and DecisionECB/2008/29 to postpone the start of the rotation system in theGoverning Council of the European Central Bank.ECBAnnual Report2008197