Editing European Central Bank (section)

=== Primary mandate ===
The primary objective of the European Central Bank, set out in Article 127(1) of the [[Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union]], is to maintain [[price stability]] within the [[Eurozone]].<ref>[[s:Consolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union/Title VIII: Economic and Monetary Policy#CHAPTER 2: MONETARY POLICY|wikisource consolidation]]</ref> However the EU Treaties do not specify exactly how the ECB should pursue this objective. The European Central Bank has ample discretion over the way it pursues its price stability objective, as it can self-decide on the [[inflation target]], and may also influence the way inflation is being measured.

Since 2021, the ECB has defined its objective as targeting an '''inflation rate of 2% over the medium term'''.<ref name="Amaro-2021" /> Before that, the precise formulation of the price stability objective has changed over the years:

The Governing Council in October 1998<ref name="HANSPETER K 2006, page 81">THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK HISTORY, ROLE AND FUNCTIONS BY HANSPETER K. SCHELLER SECOND REVISED EDITION 2006, {{ISBN|92-899-0022-9}} (print) {{ISBN|92-899-0027-X}} (online) page 81 at the pdf online version</ref> defined price stability as inflation of under 2%, "a year-on-year increase in the [[Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices]] (HICP) for the euro area of below 2%" and added that price stability "was to be maintained over the medium term".<ref name="ENA Pow">{{cite web |title=Powers and responsibilities of the European Central Bank |publisher=European Central Bank |url=http://www.ecb.int/ecb/orga/tasks/html/index.en.html |access-date=10 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216083913/http://www.ecb.int/ecb/orga/tasks/html/index.en.html}}</ref> In May 2003, following a thorough review of the ECB's monetary policy strategy, the Governing Council clarified that "in the pursuit of price stability, it aims to maintain inflation rates below, but close to, 2% over the medium term".<ref name="HANSPETER K 2006, page 81" /> In 2016, the European Central Bank's president has further adjusted its communication, by introducing the notion of "symmetry" in its definition of its target,<ref>{{Cite press release|last=Draghi|first=Mario|date=2016-06-02|title=Delivering a symmetric mandate with asymmetric tools: monetary policy in a context of low-interest rates|url=https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2016/html/sp160602.en.html|access-date=2020-11-28|website=European Central Bank|language=en}}</ref> thus making it clear that the ECB should respond both to inflationary pressures and to deflationary pressures. As [[Mario Draghi|Draghi]] once said "symmetry meant not only that we would not accept persistently low inflation, but also that there was no cap on inflation at 2%."<ref>{{Cite press release|date=2019-06-18|title=Twenty Years of the ECB's monetary policy|url=https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2019/html/ecb.sp190618~ec4cd2443b.en.html|access-date=2020-11-28|website=European Central Bank|language=en}}</ref>

On 8 July 2021, as a result of the strategic review led by the new president [[Christine Lagarde]], the ECB officially abandoned the "below but close to two per cent" definition and adopted instead a 2% symmetric target.<ref name="Amaro-2021" /><ref>{{Cite press release|date=2021-07-08|title=ECB's Governing Council approves its new monetary policy strategy|url=https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2021/html/ecb.pr210708~dc78cc4b0d.en.html|language=en|website=European Central Bank}}</ref>