Institutional seats of the European Union are based in Luxembourg City along with the European Investment Bank. The Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions are entirely based in Brussels while the European Central Bank is based in Frankfurt and Europol is the only agency to have its seat fixed by the treaties, in The Hague. Separately, the Treaty of Nice establishes Brussels as the venue for all formal summits of the European Council after 2004. However some extraordinary sessions are sometimes held outside the city. The European Council's seat is however fixed by a declaration rather than a protocol, meaning it is
European Central Bank bank announced on 8 December 2011 a new round of 1% interest loans with a term of three years (36 months) – the Long-term Refinancing operations (LTRO). Thanks to this operation, 523 Banks tapped as much as €489.2 bn (US$640 bn). The loans were not offered to European states, but government securities issued by European states would be acceptable collateral as would mortgage-backed securities and other commercial paper that have a sufficient rating by credit agencies. Observers were surprised by the volume of the loans made when it was implemented. By far biggest amount of was tapped by banks in