Brussels, 27/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - Reuters reported on Tuesday 27 March that Germany's finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, is currently frontrunner among the candidates to replace Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker at the head of the Eurogroup, but the appointment will not be made until June, along with other appointments, despite the matter being discussed at the ECOFIN Council in Copenhagen on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 March. It remains to be seen how the struggling eurozone countries would react to such a scenario, possibly seeing it as Germany taking control of the Eurogroup. Schäuble's statements during the talks over the second Greek bailout have been controversial.
The other posts to be filled include a member of the ECB's Executive Board, which is expected to go to the current head of Luxembourg's central bank, Yves Mersch, now that Spain, which had been fighting for the job, is reported to have withdrawn its candidate. France, Poland, Serbia and the United Kingdom are after the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, currently held by Germany's Thomas Mirow. Reuters says that the British candidate is likely to get the job. The head of the European Stability Mechanism might go to Spain's Belén Romana García, former head of the Spanish treasury and advisor to the Spanish central bank. (MB/transl.fl)