Franse minister van Financiën wenst meer openheid bij Europese Centrale Bank (en)

French finance minister Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday (6 July) called on the European Central Bank (ECB) to publish records of its debates and votes when setting interest rates, in the interests of transparency.

According to Le Monde, Mr Sarkozy said, "It is important that an independent European body communicates how its decisions are taken, not just to the markets but also to the citizens. In a democracy, it is important that this is explained".

"There is no longer any reason not to publish the votes of those who decide our interest rates", he added, according to Reuters.

The ECB - which has sole responsibility for setting interest rates for the 12 countries that share the euro - publishes neither minutes of its meetings nor details of how its board members voted on monetary policy.

Instead, the President of the ECB, Jean-Claude Trichet gives a closely-watched press conference immediately after the decision is taken.

Difficult to predict

The lack of written evidence regarding the bank's decisions has led to criticism that it lacks transparency and that it is harder for the markets to predict what interest rate decisions it will take.

In countries such as the UK, Canada, the US and Sweden, markets pour over published minutes of monetary policy decisions and votes and attempt to speculate on whether the bank is likely to change its stance in the future.

But markets are more in the dark with the ECB, relying only on nuances from post-decisions press conference.

Fierce defence of independence

However, the ECB is likely to react defiantly to any attempt to compromise its fiercely guarded independence.

In the past, it has strongly rebuffed suggestions from member states. The bank recently rejected calls from France and Germany to reduce its interest rates and kept its rate on hold at two percent.