It is a great success that the Governing Council consisting of at the beginning 11 and today 15 national central bank Governors with very different and diverse monetary policy experience and history and 6 ECB Executive Board members conducted a joint monetary policy for the euro area independently of national interests.
In this context, let me reflect further on the role of the NCBs in the overall Eurosystem policy-making process. 2. The role of NCBs in the Eurosystem  The Eurosystem operates very much like any other large organisation with a decentralised structure.