The European Central Bank: What Accountability to the European Parliament, Corollary of its Independence in Order to Assure its Credibility and its Legitimacy?

The development of monetary policy and the role of the ECB after 2007 reopen the debate on the conditions and modalities of its democratic accountability to the European Parliament. It was built from 1998 on the basis of the Maastricht Treaty; it has evolved in parallel with the institutional development of the ECB's responsibilities, but the rise of unconventional monetary policy, its side effects and the broadening of the interpretation of its mandate raise new questions.