Eurosystem

On the day that the euro was adopted as Slovenia’s currency (1 January 2007), Banka Slovenije became part of the Eurosystem. The Eurosystem comprises the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks of EU Member States that have adopted the euro. The euro (symbol €) is now the official currency in 20 of the 27 EU Member States; these countries constitute the euro area, and were required to meet the convergence criteria for joining.

The ECB is based in Frankfurt am Main, and was established by the Statute of the European System of Central Banks  (ESCB) and of the European Central Bank on 1 June 1998 as the core of the Eurosystem and the ESCB. Since 1 January 1999 the ECB has been responsible for conducting monetary policy in the euro area (the original 11 euro area countries transferred responsibility for monetary policy to the ECB on the aforementioned date).

The legal basis for the common monetary policy consists of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Statute of the ESCB and of the ECB. The principle of centralised decision-making (Governing Council of the ECB) and decentralised implementation via the national central banks applies to the formulation and implementation of the common monetary policy.

The main objective of the Eurosystem is to maintain price stability, safeguarding the value of the euro. The objective of the Governing Council of the ECB is to maintain inflation close to but below the 2% mark over the medium term.

The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) comprises the ECB and the national central banks of all EU Member States. The national central banks of EU Member States that have not adopted the euro conduct their own monetary policies, and do not participate in the decision-making process or the implementation of the common monetary policy.

Links to the websites of ESCB central banks