Founding of European Central Bank

Date: May 2, 1998 • Location: Brussels, Belgium

The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's most important central banks, heading a system with a combined balance sheet of close to €7 trillion.