european parliament. the quarterly hearings provide an opportunity for us to explain our monetary policy decisions to the european citizens and their elected representatives. 16 december 2020 slides related topics monetary policy financial stability price stability governance accountability economic and monetary union ( emu ) euro currencies inflation economic development central banking financial crisis european integration money euro area policies disclaimer please note that related topic tags are currently available for selected content only. european central bank directorate general communications sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 frankfurt am main, germany tel. : + 49 69 1344 7455, email : media @ ecb. europa. eu website : www. ecb. europa. eu reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged. https : / / www. ecb. europa. eu / press / key / date / 2020 / html / ecb. sp201216 _ 1 ~ 9caf7588cd. en. html 16 / 17 12 / 18 / 2020 the importance of trust for the ecb ’ s monetary policy media contacts copyright 2020, european central bank https : / / www. ecb. europa. eu / press / key / date / 2020 / html / ecb. sp201216 _ 1 ~ 9caf7588cd. en. html 17 / 17

supports the euro nor trusts the ecb ( emu - sceptics ) ; the second group supports the euro, but does not trust the ecb ( ecb - sceptics ) ; the third group does not support the euro, but trusts the ecb ( euro - sceptics ) ; and the fourth group supports the euro and trusts the ecb ( emu - supporters ). a fifth group ( other ) comprises those who answered “ don't know ” to one of the two questions. however, this overall picture for the euro area conceals heterogeneous developments in individual member states. an analysis of empirical data at the country level suggests that attitudes towards the monetary union depend on economic developments. countries that were severely affected by the financial crisis, such as greece and spain, experienced a relatively sharp decline in public support ( figure 4 ). [ 7 ] in italy and portugal, monetary union sceptics temporarily constituted the largest group. by contrast, the number of monetary union supporters in countries less affected by the financial crisis remained at a relatively high level. however, even in france and germany, ecb - sceptics temporarily represented the largest group. figure 4 attitudes towards emu over time, 1999 - 2019, by country. percentages https : / / www. ecb. europa. eu / press / key / date / 2020 / html / ecb. sp201216 _ 1 ~ 9caf7588cd. en. html 4 / 17 12 / 18 / 2020 the importance of trust for the ecb ’ s monetary policy sources : eurobarometer, own calculations. notes : the typology contains four groups : the first group neither supports the euro nor trusts the ecb ( emu - sceptics ) ; the second group supports the euro, but does not trust the ecb ( ecb - sceptics ) ; the third group does not support the euro, but trusts the ecb ( euro - sceptics ) ; and the fourth group supports the euro and trusts the ecb ( emu - supporters ). a fifth group ( other ) comprises those who answered “ don't know ” to one of the two questions. descriptive analysis : trust in the ecb and the euro by socio - economic characteristics the analysis at country level provides initial indications that citizens ’ perceptions of the economic situation influence their attitudes towards the monetary union. the consideration of individual socio - economic characteristics confirms this conjecture : survey