Influence of german monetary policymaking on the ECB: obstacle or opportunity?

Abstract

Semih Emre Çekin Influence of German Monetary Policymaking on the ECB: Obstacle or Opportunity? “I certainly would not say that we are ‘just’ one of 17 central banks. We are the largest and most important central bank in the Eurosystem and we have a greater say than many other central banks in the Eurosystem. This means that we have a different role. We are the central bank that is most active in the public debate on the future of monetary union.”1 Jens Weidmann, President of the Bundesbank, 27 June 2012 “Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough.”2 Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, 26 July 2012 Introduction With a nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of about 19 trillion Dollars in 2018, the European Union is one of the most important economic blocs in the world. The bloc, which consists of 27 countries (without the UK) in 2019, was established in 1951 with the Paris Treaty and later resulted in the Treaty of Rome with the aim of establishing a common market. The resulting new “European Economic Community” (EEC) consisted of only six countries initially but grew with the fall of the iron curtain and eventually included most eastern European economies as well. While economic integration was not very deep following the Treaty of Rome, the 1990…. © Peter Lang GmbH.