The changes introduced, which will be effective as of 1 February 2009, aim at striking a balance between preserving the stabilising features of the collateral framework and mitigating risks which could be faced by the Eurosystem in an environment of protracted financial market tensions.
This state of affairs may make it easier to delegate the decision-making power to “technocratic experts in macroeconomic and monetary matters”. The independence of a central bank is not an end in itself. Rather, central bank independence helps to maintain a long-term stability orientation of monetary policy by insulating decision-making bodies from short-term-motivated political influence and, thus, contributes to enhancing monetary policy’s credibility.