The European Central Bank (ECB) and European Democracy: A Technocratic Institution to Rule All European States?

The Crisis has shown how the financial markets move very rapidly and the reaction times of democratic institutions are to slow for preventing the negative effects of financial turmoil. In this framework, the ECB has been very active since the beginning of the economic crisis and its action helped the Eurozone to avoid its collapse. Nevertheless, the ECB’s action has been strongly criticized because it would appear to contravene the EU rules and have probably had the effect to modify its role. The ECB would be not more a technocratic institution, but the central hub of the EU economy policy making, without any democratic effective control. This chapter intend to underline how the supposed democratic deficit can be avoided or limited by strengthening the ECB’s transparency accountability, safeguarding its independence from political influence.