Frank Elderson: The rule of law as a constitutional pillar of European central banking
Keynote speech by Mr Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank, at the Italian constitutional court, Rome, 9 June 2025.
The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.
Introduction
Thank you very much for inviting me.
The writings, judgments and speeches of many among this distinguished audience have shaped our understanding of the rule of law. I find it a privilege – and slightly daunting – to address you today on such a fundamental issue.
Today I am speaking to you as a central banker and banking supervisor. However, before I do so, allow me to take a moment to speak from a more personal perspective. Not as an official, but as the young law student I once was, reflecting on how I first came to understand and appreciate the rule of law.
As a law student at the University of Amsterdam in the early 1990s, I often cycled past a monument to Henk van Randwijk, a member of the anti-Nazi resistance during the Second World War. The monument is simple.