318 Institutions
The ESM is governed by a Governing Council composed of the Finance
Ministers of the euro area, with the European Commissioner for Economic and
Monetary Aairs and the President of the ECB as observers. Three features aim
to limit moral hazard but also make ESM decision- making quite cumbersome:
– The most important decisions taken by the ESM, in particular the grant-
ing, terms and conditions of nancial assistance, are decided “by common
agreement”, i.e. unanimously. However, an emergency procedure foresees a
majority or 80% or 85% of the weighted votes, which de facto gives a veto
right to Germany or France.
– The IMF’s technical and nancial participation in the ESM interventions is
sought.
– The same applies to pr ...