ECB President Mario Draghi testifies before the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in Brussels September 22, 2014. REUTERS/Yves Herman The rift at the top of the ECB is dangerous

Will the European Central Bank introduce a quantitative-easing programme involving big purchases of government bonds? At a press briefing on December 4th Mario Draghi, the ECB's president, had little new to convey other than a semantic change to the ECB's plan to increase the size of its balance-sheet by EUR1 trillion ($1.2 trillion), which is now "intended" rather than "expected". Nonetheless, the tweak was controversial: six or seven members of the 24-strong council, including three of the six people on the executive board, are reported to have opposed it. Mr Draghi (pictured, right) insists that a majority on the council can overrule dissenters.

That is no more than a statement of fact. But Mr Draghi's readiness to highlight it contrasted with his more emollient tone just a month earlier. Then, he was at pains to paint a picture of a council united in its determination to ensure that inflation, currently a mere 0.3%, does not stay too low for too long. This had followed some unfavourable press coverage about Mr Draghi's reported high-handedness towards fellow council members.

Mr Draghi undoubtedly has a very different style of leadership to that of Jean-Claude Trichet. His French predecessor had at times to override opposition on the council, notably over the ECB's first foray into government-bond buying in May 2010. But he was assiduous in trying to build a consensus that he then presented. By contrast, Mr Draghi is more willing to strike out on his own, putting pressure on the rest of the council to follow, notably with his most famous intervention, the impromptu pledge at a conference in London in July 2012 to do "whatever it takes" to save the euro.

But Mr Draghi was aided then by a sense of emergency, as the euro area teetered on the brink. The problem of worryingly low inflation that the ECB now faces is grave but it is not existential. Some speculate that Mr Draghi may be in a hurry to get on with quantitative easing because he would like to move on to a new job next year, as president of Italy, when Giorgio Napolitano (pictured, left) is expected to retire. (Mr Draghi has dismissed the idea that he might leave the bank.) Whatever he does, the in-fighting on the council does not bode well for the ECB's ability to lift inflation.

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