In France, the decision to make the Banque de France independent was particularly solemn because it required a change of the constitution of the Fifth Republic – the constitution of General de Gaulle – by a majority of three-fifths in both Chambers of the Parliament. After this, the people of France voted in favour of central bank independence as enshrined in the Maastricht Treaty.
These critics often point to the fact that the Federal Reserve has a mandate partly for growth, and the ECB does not. Is there any room for some element of this to be placed in the ECB mandate?