Editing European Central Bank (section)

=== Transparency ===
In addition to its independence, the ECB is subject to limited transparency obligations in contrast to EU Institutions standards and other major central banks. Indeed, as pointed out by [[Transparency International]], "The Treaties establish transparency and openness as principles of the EU and its institutions. They do, however, grant the ECB a partial exemption from these principles. According to Art. 15(3) TFEU, the ECB is bound by the EU's transparency principles "only when exercising [its] administrative tasks" (the exemption – which leaves the term "administrative tasks" undefined – equally applies to the Court of Justice of the European Union and to the European Investment Bank).<ref>Braun, Benjamin, and Leo Hoffmann-Axthelm. ‘[https://transparency.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/TI-EU_ECB_Report_DIGITAL.pdf Two Sides of the Same Coin: Independence and Accountability of the European Central Bank]’. Transparency International, March 2017.</ref>

In practice, there are several concrete examples where the ECB is less transparent than other institutions:
* '''Voting secrecy:''' while other central banks publish the voting record of its decision makers, the ECB's Governing Council decisions are made in full discretion. Since 2014, the ECB has published "accounts" of its monetary policy meetings,<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2014/html/pr140703_1.en.html |title=ECB to adjust schedule of meetings and to publish regular accounts of monetary policy discussions in 2015 |website=European Central Bank |date=3 July 2014 |language=en |access-date=5 November 2017}}</ref> but those remain rather vague and do not include individual votes.
* '''Access to documents:''' The obligation for EU bodies to make documents freely accessible after a 30-year embargo applies to the ECB. However, under the ECB's Rules of Procedure, the Governing Council may decide to keep individual documents classified beyond the 30 years.<!-- Art. 23.3 Rules of Procedure. See also CJEU in joined cases T-3/00 and T-337/04 -->
* '''Disclosure of securities:''' The ECB is less transparent than the Fed when it comes to disclosing the list of securities being held in its balance sheet under monetary policy operations such as QE.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bruegel.org/2017/11/the-eurosystem-too-opaque-and-costly/|title=The Eurosystem – Too opaque and costly? |website=bruegel.org|language=en-US|access-date=7 November 2017}}</ref>