The ECB as a supranational institution: archetype or outlier?

Though being a technocratic independent institution, the ECB has become increasingly involved in policy areas outside monetary policy in a narrow sense. This paper assesses whether the ECB can be considered as a supranational institution in the neofunctionalist sense by ‘testing’ its preferences for supranational solutions in the field of economic and financial governance. It also investigates the underlying drivers for the ECB’s preferences notably by analysing various sets of motivations and the internal dynamics of preference formation.