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Some Thoughts on the Uneasy Fit Between the ECB's Legal Mandate and its Crisis-Driven, 'Whatever it Takes', Policy Empowerment

The unconventional monetary policy actions of the European Central Bank (ECB), most notably the generous asset purchase programs that began during the Eurozone crisis and were then expanded during the pandemic emergency, allowed the ECB to extend its mandate and, as a result, increase its institutional and political leadership in EU economic governance. Politically, these policy measures have reaffirmed the ECB's unwavering commitment to the euro, but from a legitimacy standpoint the programs have ignited debate concerning the line between monetary and fiscal policy, as well as about the proportionality of ECB’s policy responses. Drawing on political science literature on the ECB's political empowerment and leadership as well as legal scholarship on the (democratic) legitimacy of ECB emergency actions, this paper maps out the political and legal context of the ECB’s interventionist mandate, which is activated in times of crisis, explaining why the bank’s responsibility to preserve the singleness of the monetary union will continue to sit uncomfortably with the legitimacy of its actions in the monetary domain regardless of the compelling political and economic arguments in favour of a more ‘hands-on’ ECB.

European Central Bank, PEPP, ultra vires, monetary strategy

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