English Style Guide

operations, hold and manage the Member States’ official foreign-exchange reserves, and promote the smooth operation of payment systems.

The ECB was established on 30 June 1998, in accordance with its Statute. Its decision-making bodies are its Governing Council, Executive Board and

General Council.

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

16.42European Investment Bank. The European Investment Bank (EIB) was established by the Treaty of Rome. Its main business is making or guaranteeing loans for investment projects. Capital is subscribed by Member States, but principally the EIB borrows on the market by issuing bonds. It provides financial support for projects that embody EU objectives in the Member States and in many other countries throughout the world. The Bank has a Board of Governors, a Board of Directors, a Management Committee and an Audit Committee.

16.43European Investment Fund. The European Investment Fund (EIF) is an institution whose main objective is to support the creation, growth and development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It provides risk capital and guarantee instruments, using either its own funds or those available under mandates from the EIB or the European Union.

The EIF has a tripartite shareholding, which includes the EIB, the European Union represented by the European Commission, and a number of European banks and financial institutions, from both the public and private sector. The EIF acts in a complementary role to its majority shareholder, the EIB.

AGENCIES

16.44Over the years the EU has spawned a number of agencies to perform specific technical, scientific or managerial tasks. Participation in the agencies is not necessarily restricted to the Member States of the EU.

17 REFERENCES TO OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL

17.1General. The full name of the Official Journal is Official Journal of the European Union and its official abbreviation in references is ‘OJ’. It is published in three series, ‘L’, ‘C’ and ‘S’, each serving different purposes. The L series contains EU legislation, the C series EU notices and information and the S series public procurement notices. Notices of recruitment competitions and some vacancy notices are published in separate ‘A’ issues of the C series (numbered, for example, ‘C227A’). For a fuller account of the three OJ series, see section 3.1.1 of the Interinstitutional Style Guide.