Our recent monetary policy measures respect the law Since the onset of the crisis, however, we have had to adopt new, unconventional tools to fulfil our mandate – and this has naturally brought the question of the scope and limits of monetary policy more to the fore.
Clearly, restricting ourselves only to the instruments used in normal times would have been a breach of our mandate. It could have had disastrous consequences for the euro area economy, and threatened our ability to achieve price stability. But that does not imply the reverse – i.e. that every conceivable tool would have been justified. 2  Article 5 (4), Treaty on European Union.