Brussels, 14/02/2011 (Agence Europe) -On Monday 14 February the Eurogroup expressed a preference for Belgium's Peter Praet to join the European Central Bank's Executive Board rather than Slovakia's Elena Kohutikova (see EUROPE 10296). On Tuesday, the ECOFIN Council is expected to endorse this decision, which will then be finalised by the European Council. At present a director of the Bank of Belgium, Peter Praet would replace Austria's Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell. The six-member Executive Board is the bank's permanent management body and along with the governors of the central banks of the 17 eurozone countries, it forms the ECB's Governing Council that decides on monetary policy for the eurozone.
Axel Weber. On Monday 14 February, Reuters reported that a German government spokesperson had said that the German government has always said that Jean-Claude Trichet's successor must share Germany's ideas about a stable currency and Germany's determination to ensure stability of the currency by tackling inflation. This was crucial, said the spokesperson, and more important than the actual nationality of the future president of the ECB, although Germany has not ruled out presenting a candidate of its own. The spokesperson admitted that Axel Weber's decision had taken the German government by surprise because they were planning to make his candidacy official in March.
Long seen as the frontrunner to replace Jean-Claude Trichet, Axel Weber has confirmed recent rumours that he was planning to step down from his post at the helm of the Bundesbank at the end of April (see EUROPE 10313), which would automatically take him out of the race to become the ECB president. In an interview with German newsletter Der Spiegel recently, he explained that if the president of the European Central Bank held a minority view on key questions, then this would damage the ECB's credibility. Weber has publicly criticised the ECB's decision to buy up sovereign debt from struggling eurozone countries, saying that this was exceeding the ECB's mandate. His statements caused annoyance in some countries, including France, where finance minister Christine Lagarde said last week that she was “astonished” at comments from Germany. Weber acknowledged that his views had not helped him get accepted by certain governments.
Who else might Germany put forward? One name mentioned is Klaus Regling, currently head of the EFSF set up to ensure stability of the eurozone. Axel Weber's withdrawal has given new impetus to the candidacy of the government of Banca d'Italia, Mario Draghi. Other names in the offing include Luxembourg's Yves Mersch and Finland's Erkki Liikanen. (M.B./transl.fl)