Governing Council decisions

Decisions on monetary policy in the Eurosystem are taken by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB), which consists of the six members of the ECB’s Executive Board (including the ECB President) and the governors of the national central banks of the euro area countries. The Governing Council usually meets twice a month. Every six weeks it assesses economic and monetary developments and takes its monetary policy decisions.

• Monetary policy decisions – on key interest rates – are published at 13:45 CET on the day of the Governing Council monetary policy meeting. The post-meeting press conference begins at 14:30 CET.
• Other decisions – on, for example, financial stability, banknote issuance, legislative tasks -are published at 15:00 CET on the day after the second Governing Council meeting of a given calendar month.