Salo 2017 – Regional Session of European Youth Parliament Finland General Assembly, 19 November 2017
FACT SHEET European Central Bank (ECB): The central bank for the Eurozone. The ECB is responsible for implementing the Eurozone’s monetary policy. The main objective of the ECB is to maintain price stability, which is defined by them as keeping inflation at 2% or lower. The current President of the ECB is Mario Draghi. Eurozone: A group of EU Member States that are part of the European Monetary Union – an area sharing a common currency, governed by a common central bank. There are currently 19 Eurozone members: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. European Stability Mechanism (ESM): An intergovernmental organisation established in 2012 to provide financial assistance, mainly in the form of loans, for Eurozone countries with struggling economies. The maximum lending capacity of the ESM is €500bn. The ESM receives its funding from investors by selling stocks and bonds and does not work with money received in taxes. Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP): The EDP was established by the European Commission to assure the stability of European national economies. The procedure entails two criteria: The budget deficit cannot exceed 3% of the national gross domestic product (GDP), and the public debt may not exceed 60% of GDP. European Investment Bank (EIB): EU-established investment bank with the Member States as its key stakeholders. It was created with the mission of furthering European integration through investment loans and other financial.