ABSTRACT
The European Central Bank is the only non judicial institution of the Union with a power to impose sanctions based directly on the EU treaties. Linked to the implementation of the ECB regulations and decisions, this sanctioning power has so far remained little exercised. In 2013 the Regulation establishing the single supervisory mechanism conferred on the ECB a new specific sanctioning power to enforce European directly applicable prudential rules. Two complementary but separate legal regimes regulate the use of sanctioning power by the ECB in monetary and in supervisory matters respectively. The duality of the applicable legal bases, their cross-referencing and the decentralisation of the implementation of the ECB’s powers make the legal framework as a whole highly complex and non-transparent. The increasing use by the ECB of its sanctioning especially in the prudential supervision area requires clarification of the specific features of each legal regime from a substantive and procedural perspective.
