§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what proposals he has made to reform the European central bank in order to(a) improve policy-making transparency and (b) improve the definition of the inflation target; and if he will make a statement; [26547]
(2) what steps he is taking to secure increased transparency and accountability in the decision-making process of the European central bank; [27464]
§ Ruth KellyAs the Chancellor said to the House of Lords Select Committee in January 1999,
the issues of transparency in decision making, which we dealt with in our reform of the Bank of England and the symmetry of the inflation target, which have proved to be central to the success of the United Kingdom's new monetary framework, will also be issues for future debate in Europe".