The objectives of the ECB’s monetary policy, which are laid down in the Maastricht Treaty, are ensuring price stability, and without prejudice to this primary objective, contributing to the general economic policy of the EU.
Price stability has been defined by the Governing Council of the ECB as an increase of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) of below 2% for the euro area as a whole from a medium-term perspective. To reach this objective a strategy has been established that rests on two pillars.