European Central Bank

The European Central Bank sets monetary policy for the euro area as the central component of the Eurosystem and the wider European System of Central Banks, with price stability as its primary objective. It was established on 1 June 1998 under the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty), formally replacing the European Monetary Institute as the eurozone entered the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union; it gained formal EU institution status under the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009. Wim Duisenberg, former president of the Dutch central bank, became its first President, an appointment settled by a gentleman's agreement after France had pushed for Jean-Claude Trichet, who succeeded Duisenberg in November 2003.