The European Central Bank has published a detailed paper on the history, role and functioning of the Eurosystem and European System of Central Banks committee framework, providing public detail beyond the high-level information previously included in its Annual Report. It explains how the committees support the ECB’s decision-making bodies and, where relevant, the Supervisory Board by providing technical advice and coordinating implementation across national central banks and national competent authorities. For supervisory tasks under the Single Supervisory Mechanism, the ECB uses dedicated supervisory compositions of existing committees rather than creating separate permanent committees. The publication describes a current structure of 19 bodies, comprising 15 committees established under Article 9 of the ECB’s Rules of Procedure, the Budget Committee under Article 15.2, the Human Resources Committee and Ethics and Compliance Committee under Article 9a, and the Eurosystem/ESCB Climate Change Forum established by ad hoc Governing Council decision. Mandates are reviewed every three years, committees have no decision-making powers, and their work is organised through annual programmes, meetings, written procedures and substructures such as working groups, task forces, work streams and networks. It also notes that committees held more than 200 meetings and more than 1,300 written procedures in 2025, and that from 2026 physical meetings are capped at the number held in 2024, contributing to an 80% reduction compared with 2019.
European Central Bank 2026-05-08
European Central Bank publishes transparency paper on 19 Eurosystem and European System of Central Banks committees and their operating framework
The European Central Bank has published a paper on the history, role and functioning of the Eurosystem and European System of Central Banks committee framework, explaining how these bodies provide technical advice and coordinate implementation for the ECB’s decision-making bodies and the Supervisory Board. It outlines a structure of 19 non-decision-making bodies with mandates reviewed every three years and work organised via annual programmes, meetings and written procedures, noting that committees held more than 200 meetings and over 1,300 written procedures in 2025 and that from 2026 physical meetings are capped at 2024 levels, contributing to an 80% reduction compared with 2019.