The (unfinished) safeguards system of the European Union sanctioning administrative law: on the European Central Bank sanctioning powers

Abstract

This paper aims to give a preliminary insight into the sanctioning power granted to the European Central Bank (ECB) by the Treaties and the ECB Statutes. First, the paper explains what is the institutional position of the ECB in the EU system and the real scope of its independence. Second, it analyzes whether some of the classical fundamental rights governing sanctioning law, such as the principle of legality or the principle of guilt, are being respected or not.