Reform of the European Central Bank should be made part of the current EU constitutional negotiations, peers have said.

Members of the Lords EU committee said the on-going inter-governmental conference should review the bank's practices.

Peers called for the ECB to enhance transparency and understanding of the decisions it makes.

They urged officials to take a leaf out of the Bank of England's book when setting interest rates.

It said the bank should publish minutes of meetings clearly setting out the arguments behind monetary policy.

The committee said that the ECB should adopt a symmetrical inflation target and gave a positive verdict on what it has achieved so far.

"The European Central Bank has worked well so far. A lot of the criticism of the bank has been unjustified - it should not be made the scapegoat for the Eurozone's poor performance," said Lord Radice, who chaired the investigation.

"It is a young institution which has rapidly built up good credibility by delivering price stability.

"However, the bank and its new president can't afford to be complacent, because they face a number of challenges, particularly with EU enlargement."