The Crisis Policies of the European Central Bank: The Unbalancing of Independence and Legitimacy

The independence of the European Central Bank from other institutions has largely prevented both political intervention and democratic control. In the past, the decision to grant it such extensive independence has usually been justified by reference to its narrow mandate, the low electoral salience of its actions and the need for objective, expertise-driven decision-making on monetary policy. This paper argues that this technocratic logic has been fundamentally eroded in the course of the Eurozone crisis. In part due to external pressure and in part due to the entrepreneurialism of the ECB, the ECB had adopted a range of extraordinary measures that have diluted its mandate politicized its actions and given them unprecedented salience. The situation has resulted in an enormous challenge to the democratic logic of the EU and requires us to consider “brining politics back in”.