European Monetary Policy

Abstract

Monetary policy includes all the actions that monetary authorities carry out to control and coordinate the amount of currency in circulation, exchange rates, the level of interest rates and other economic-monetary indicators in order to achieve the objectives of economic policy.

Seen as a whole, monetary policy represents that essential component of economic policy aimed at influencing the supply of money and credit conditions, under the coordination of the European Central Bank, the pivotal institution of the Economic and Monetary Union. Through its creation, the aim was to stabilize prices, record economic growth and, last but not least, create jobs at the level of the European Union.

In the perspective of the complete integration of the national monetary systems, the issues raised by the desirable monetary policy for the future, the objectives it should propose, the legislative, logistical and organizational framework, the instruments possible to be used by the European Central Bank, the transmission mechanisms of this common monetary policy, so all these issues have returned to the center of attention and debates. Even if the interest in monetary policy will give way in the future to an increased interest in financial policies, nevertheless, at least in the short term, monetary policy is the most active area in the overall research dedicated to macroeconomics.