To carry out its tasks, the ECB enjoys a high degree of independence under the EU treaties. This independence manifests itself in a number of institutional features of the Eurosystem.
By the November meeting, financial market volatility had declined and the Chinese economy was continuing to grow strongly. Earlier downside risks to global growth had diminished somewhat and it was becoming clear that global GDP would record a very strong increase for 2010 as a whole. Domestically, employment had continued to grow very quickly.