The first pillar of the strategy of the ECB gives a prominent role to money. It is based on the conviction that inflation is a monetary phenomenon in the long run and underlines the medium-term orientation of monetary policy and the inheritance in this respect from the Deutsche Bundesbank.
Recognising that the demand for money can be subject to short-term fluctuations which are harmless for price stability, the ECB has not announced an "intermediate objective" but rather a "reference value" for the growth of a broad monetary aggregate.