Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) – Germany and France are locked in talks to decide who will succeed Christine Lagarde as European Central Bank president, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday. The ECB is the central bank for the 21 countries that use the euro, setting interest rates that influence borrowing costs across the economy, from mortgages to credit-card repayments.
France is believed to be supporting Spain’s former central bank head Pablo Hernandez de Cos for the top job, while former Dutch bank chief Klass Knot is also in the running. Frenchwoman Lagarde said last month she would step down in February, several months before her term officially ends, triggering a race to find her replacement as the euro area faces myriad challenges from rising inflation to France’s surging borrowing costs.
The EU wants to appoint her successor before the end of the year, but the process is complicated and involves discussions with the European Parliament, the ECB’s governing council, and a final decision by heads of state and government. The Eurogroup, which brings together eurozone finance ministers, announced the two candidates last week, praising their “extensive experience and international standing.” Knot, 59, led the Dutch central bank from 2011 to 2025. Hernandez de Cos, 55, chaired the Bank of Spain from 2018 to 2024 and has been leading the Swiss-based Bank for International Settlements (BIS) since last year.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Merz are talking directly as they try to thrash out a common position. The talks are complicated by two other impending vacancies on the ECB’s executive board — chief economist and market operations head. “We are discussing the appointments at the European Central Bank very intensively,” Merz said Friday on the sidelines of a European summit in Dublin. The French presidency said the leaders were focused on finding an “overall balance” in deciding on the three posts to the Frankfurt-based institution.
According to sources, France has told Germany it wants Hernandez de Cos as president and has proposed a Frenchwoman to fill the market operations role. That has left Germany a free hand to nominate the chief economist. But Merz and his government have not yet agreed on a candidate, the chancellor saying Friday they aimed to put forward a name next week. EU council chief Antonio Costa said he wanted to move on to the next phase of the process during a European summit scheduled for November 26–27 in Brussels. He also said eurozone members would have until November 18 to put forward candidates for the other two positions.
© 2024 AFP
