This study, completed in April 2024, aims at comprehensively presenting and thoroughly analysing the legal framework governing the definition and implementation of the single monetary policy in the euro area during the first twenty-five years of the Eurosystem’s operation. In this historical context, the focus is on the legal aspects pertaining to the definition and implementation of this single monetary policy since the establishment of the Eurosystem on 1 January 1999 amidst, and in response to, several financial and non-financial crises which erupted in the course of that period (and in particular since 2007, which marked the onset of the Global Financial Crisis). The ultimate goal is to highlight the significant contribution and the importance of the legal framework in shaping the single monetary policy of the Eurosystem, in normal times and at times of stress. The study is structured in two key chapters entitled “The Single Monetary Policy in the Euro Area: Definition and Legal Framework” and “Implementation of the Single Monetary Policy in the Euro Area in Periods of Crises”. The Epilogue (Chapter 3), entitled “Considerations on the Impact of Monetary Policy Decisions on Financial Stability in the Euro Area” discusses the interaction between monetary policy and financial stability, as well as the latest (until April 2024) financial stability conditions in the euro area through the lens of international and EU official reports, taking also into account the (spring 2023) banking turmoil.

This publication comprises the contributions presented at the 14th Network Europe Conference held in Stockholm/Sweden, in September 2023. The conference addressed various challenges for the European integration process in light of current global crises, as well as aspects of the EU enlargement perspectives.

The first twenty years of the European Central Bank offer a unique insight into how a central bank can navigate macroeconomic insecurity and crisis. This volume examines the structures and decision-making processes behind the complex measures taken by the ECB to tackle some of the toughest economic challenges in the history of modern Europe.

A non-technical analysis of the monetary policy strategy, institutions and operational procedures of the Eurosystem, first published in 2001.

This paper reviews empirical and theoretical work on the links between banks and their governments (the bank-sovereign nexus). How significant is this nexus? What do we know about it? To what extent is it a source of concern? What is the role of policy intervention? The paper concludes with a review of recent policy proposals.

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The economic influence of central banks has received ever more attention given their centrality during the financial crises that led to the Great Recession, strains in the European Union, and the challenges to the Euro. The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Central Banking reflects the state of the art in the theory and practice and covers a wide range of topics that will provide insight to students, scholars, and practitioners. As an up to date reference of the current and potential challenges faced by central banks in the conduct of monetary policy and in the search for the maintenance of financial system stability, this Oxford Handbook covers a wide range of essential issues. The first section provides insights into central bank governance, the differing degrees of central bank independence, and the internal dynamics of their decision making. The next section focuses on questions of whether central banks can ameliorate fiscal burdens, various strategies to affect monetary policy, and how the global financial crisis affected the relationship between the traditional focus on inflation targeting and unconventional policy instruments such as quantitative easing (QE), foreign exchange market interventions, negative interest rates, and forward guidance. The next two sections turn to central bank communications and management of expectations and then mechanisms of policy transmission. The fifth part explores the challenges of recent developments in the economy and debates about the roles central banks should play, focusing on micro- and macro-prudential arguments. The implications of recent developments for policy modeling are covered in the last section. The breadth and depth enhances understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing central banks.