Seat of the European Central Bank Seat of the European Central Bank The seat of the European Central Bank (ECB) is in Ostend (East End), Frankfurt. The premises include the former Wholesale Market Hall ("Großmarkthalle"), a new 185/165 m twin-skyscraper and a new low-rise building to connect the two. East of the city centre, it houses the new headquarters for the European Central Bank (ECB). It was completed in 2014 and was officially opened on 18 March 2015. The ECB is required by the Treaties of the European Union to have its seat within the city limits of Frankfurt, the largest financial centre in the Eurozone.
Institutional seats of the European Union locations of the major seats have been enshrined in the treaties of the European Union, Parliament has no right to decide its own seat, unlike other national parliaments. Locating new bodies is also not without political disputes. The European Central Bank's (ECB) seat had to symbolise its independence from political control, and was located in a city which did not already host a national government or European institution. New agencies are also being based in eastern Europe since 2004 to balance the distribution of agencies across the EU. The treaties of the European Union outline the locations of the following