Brussels, 25/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 25 October, the European Parliament took responsibility for the negative opinion - non legally binding - of its committee for economic and monetary affairs on the appointment of the governor of the Bank of Luxembourg, Yves Mersch, to the executive board of the European Central Bank (ECB) - (see EUROPE 10716). Obtained by a narrow majority (300 votes for, 325 against and 49 abstentions) without the votes of the EPP, this rejection is linked not to the competence of the candidate but to reasons of gender. It is up to the Council to take a definitive decision, knowing that Mersch's appointment would lead to an exclusively male executive board of the Frankfurt institution until 2018.
In the opinion of Sylvie Goulard (ALDE, France), who is spearheading the European Parliament's battle, “this vote has two points of significance - the Council cannot ignore women and diversity, and the Council cannot ignore the European Parliament and democracy”. And she added: “Legally, the European Council is not obliged to follow the European Parliament but, politically, it would be a bad signal at a time when the European Council is insisting - and rightly so - on the democratic legitimacy of European decisions; when the EU is concerned - and rightly so - about the situation of women in the Arab Spring countries; and when so many women remain less well paid than men for the same job.” Her fellow MEP Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, Belgium) asked the Council to put forward new candidates - a man and a woman - who will be judged on the basis of merit. The leader of the competent committee, Sharon Bowles (ALDE, United Kingdom) criticised the attitude of President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy who, during the plenary debate on Tuesday, had argued for Mersch's rapid appointment. Van Rompuy “has promised nothing - not even a roadmap - for appointing women to the ECB board in the future”, she deplored.
EPP voted in favour. The Christian Democrats - the biggest political force in the European Parliament - broke solidarity with the rest of the political groups. “We voted in favour as we are fully convinced that Mr Mersch is of recognised standing and has the professional qualifications and experience in monetary and banking matters needed to exercise the functions of a member of the executive board of the ECB. The EU needs stability in these times of crisis and the ECB has a crucial role to play”, said the leader of the EPP, Joseph Daul (France). For Corien Wortmann-Kool (EPP, Netherlands) “it is therefore irresponsible to take a qualified candidate hostage on grounds of gender base”, and she called on the Council to proceed with Mersch's appointment “rapidly”. This is a position which Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Germany) considers scandalous. “This scandalous demand by the EPP displays a flagrant disregard for the democratic process. For the largest political group in the European Parliament to call for the Council to ignore this democratic vote is not only grossly irresponsible, it is a deep insult to the democratic role and functioning of this house”, he criticised.
On the left also, the European Parliament vote is sometimes badly accepted. Robert Goebbels (PES, Luxembourg) totted the situation up: “Out of 754 MEPs, 325 voted against Mr Mersch, and 300 for him. As only 674 took part in the vote, there was no qualified majority against Mr Mersch.” There would apparently be numerous votes against Mersch's appointment from non-eurozone MEPs. And Goebels regretted that his compatriot is “the scapegoat not only for pseudo-feminists, but also for the enemies of Europe and especially the euro.”
Since the ECB was set up and until the departure of Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell in May 2011, there has always been one woman on the ECB executive board.