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THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
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times even used by the European monetary
policy makers themselves.
Firstly, it is essential to clarify the true mean-
ing of the narrow conceptual framework that
the Treaty of the EU lays down for monetary
policy. What should we understand by price sta-
bility and what should we understand by a
monetary policy to this end? And, on the basis
of that clarification, we must focus the analysis
on the greater or lesser convergence between
monetary policy and policy to promote invest-
ment, regarding both the instruments to be
used and the possible compatibility or comple-
mentarities of their respective objectives.
The Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union
While in general terms it is usual to refer to the
idea that the purpose of the ECBand the
Eurosystem or the European System of Central
Banks (ESCB) is to manage Eurozone monetary
policy, the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union is rather more precise.
Indeed, the Treaty makes a distinction be-
tween “the primary objective” and “the basic
tasks” of the ESCB. Article 127 Section 1 states
that the “primary objective” of the ESCB shall
be to “maintain price stability”. It is the most
important statement that Article 127 as a whole
makes on the matter and which, apparently, is
possibly the greatest obstacle to Eurosystem ac-
tivity having a greater structural relationship
with the Eurozone’s productive economy.
However, Article 127 Section 1 then states
that “Without prejudice to the objective of price
stability, the ESCB shall support the general eco-
nomic policies in the Union with a view to con-
tributing to the achievement of the objectives of
the Union as laid down in Article 3 of the Treaty
on European Union”. And it goes on to state
that “The ESCB shall act in accordance with the
principle of an open market with free competi-
tion, favouring an efficient allocation of resourc-
es and in compliance with the principles set out
in Article 119”.
Taking all that into account, we can say that
the objectives of the ESCB according to the
Treaty on the Union can be summarised as fol-
lows:
– Primary Objective:
price stability
.
– Objectives of the Union gathered in Article 3
of the Treaty.
– ������������������������������������������
Principle of an open market with free com-
petition.
– Efficient allocation of resources.
– Principles of Article 119 of the Treaty
(Coordination of Member States’ economic
policies, internal market, public finances and
stable balance of payments).
In short, it seems clear that the primary pur-
pose of Eurosystem activity, according the Treaty
of the European Union, is monetary policy un-
derstood as “maintenance of price stability”.
This is precisely the delimiting framework that
the Treaty lays down for the operations of the ECB
and of the Eurosystem. This is what was explained
in a precise manner by the Advocate General of
the Court of Justice of the European Union, whose
opinion of 14 January 2015 said the following:
– ���������������������������������������������
“130. [...] if a measure belongs to the cate-
gory of instruments which the law provides
for carrying out monetary policy, there is an
initial presumption that such a measure is
the result of [...] monetary policy [...] a pre-
sumption that could be rebutted if [...] the
measure were to pursue objectives other
than those specifically listed in Articles
127(1) TFEU and 282(2) TFEU”.
– 132. [...] in order for a measure of the ECB
actually to form part of monetary policy, it