At the political level, the euro 11 (soon to become the euro 12) has gradually defined its role as a forum for economic policy coordination among participating Member States. This includes a continuing dialogue with the Bank to ensure consistency of policy.
In response, the Governing Council reduced the key ECB interest rates by an unprecedented 300 basis points between October 2008 and April 2009. As a result of the lowering of the key policy rates and the provision and management of liquidity, money market rates have declined even more from the peaks reached in October 2008.