The president of the European Central Bank is the head of the European Central Bank (ECB), the main institution responsible for the management of the euro and monetary policy in the eurozone of the European Union (EU).
The current president of the European Central Bank is Christine Lagarde, previously the chair and managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
Mario Draghi OMRI (Italian: [ˈmaːrjo ˈdraːɡi]; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, banker, statesman, and civil servant, who served as the prime minister of Italy from 13 February 2021 to 22 October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he served as the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) between 2011 and 2019. Draghi was also the chair of the Financial Stability Board between 2009 and 2011, and governor of the Bank of Italy between 2006 and 2011.
After a lengthy career as an academic economist in Italy, Draghi worked for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., throughout the 1980s, and in 1991 returned to Rome to become director general of the Italian Treasury. He left that role after a decade to join Goldman Sachs, where he remained until his appointment as governor of the Bank of Italy in 2006. His tenure as Governor coincided with the 2008 Great Recession, and in the midst of this he was selected to become the first chair of the Financial Stability Board, the global standard-setter that replaced the Financial Stability Forum.
The Executive Board of the European Central Bank is the organ responsible for implementing monetary policy for the Eurozone in line with the guidelines and decisions taken by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.
The executive board consists of the president, the vice-president and four other members, one of whom concurrently serves as ECB chief economist. All members are appointed by the European Council by qualified majority for a non-renewable eight-year term. As an exception, the officeholders appointed to the original board received staged terms so that one would be replaced each year. Under the ECB's rules board members do not represent a particular country, nor are they responsible for keeping track of economic conditions in one country. Instead, all board members are jointly responsible for monetary policy for the entire Euro area.
The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) is a committee of the European Parliament which is responsible for the regulation of financial services, the free movement of capital and payments, taxation and competition policies, oversight of the European Central Bank, and the international financial system.
Since the establishment of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), one of the most important function of this committee has been the oversight of the European Central Bank (ECB) through the "monetary dialogue". Although guaranteed independence under the Treaty, the ECB is accountable for its actions towards the European Parliament, and more precisely the ECON Committee. Every three months, the President of the ECB, or occasionally another member of the ECB's executive board, appears before the Committee to report on monetary policy and answer question from MEPs. These proceedings, usually called the "monetary dialogue", are webstreamed and a transcript is made available on both the Parliament and ECB websites.
The Draghi government was the 67th government of the Italian Republic, led by former President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi. It was in office between 13 February 2021 and 22 October 2022.
The Draghi government was formed following the resignation of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in the midst of a political crisis which led to the Conte government losing its majority. After consultations with political parties, President Sergio Mattarella tasked Draghi with forming a "high-profile" government. Mattarella stated that the new government would have to face the health, economic and social crises related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as overseeing the EU relief fund associated with it. The Draghi government was described as a national unity government by numerous news sources. The choice by Mattarella to appoint Draghi as Prime Minister was welcomed by some international observers, with others casting doubt on the stability of a new technocratic government.
The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) is one of the oldest configurations of the Council of the European Union and is composed of the economics and finance ministers of the 27 European Union member states, as well as Budget Ministers when budgetary issues are discussed.
ECOFIN often works with the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs and the President of the European Central Bank.