EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK: The central bank for the European Union and Economic and Monetary Union this is charged with monitoring monetary policy and introducing euros into circulation (beginning in 2002). The European Central Bank has a comparable, but perhaps somewhat less powerful, role as the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in the United States. It is took over for the European Monetary Institute in 1998 and is the executive body of the European System of Central Banks. See also | European Union | Economic and Monetary Union | euro | European System of Central Banks | Maastricht Treaty | monetary policy | Board of Governors | Federal Reserve System | Euro zone | European Commission |
