The future Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, considers that his colleague from the ÖVP Christian Democrat party, Hans Jörg Schelling, would make an excellent president of the Eurogroup, the informal body of Eurozone finance ministers.
If he had the opportunity to take over the presidency of the Eurogroup, “this would be excellent”, he said on Monday 13 November, upon his arrival in Brussels for the 'Foreign Affairs' Council. Obviously, this also depends on the political group the future Eurogroup head should belong to, he added, with negotiations for the formation of a coalition government still underway in Austria.
The EPP family, of which the ÖVP is a member, already holds the chairs of the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament. It is unlikely that the successor to Jeroen Dijsselbloem of the Netherlands will also be from a party affiliated to the European People's Party.
The declared or anticipated candidates are Pierre Gramegna of Luxembourg, who is affiliated to the Liberal family (see EUROPE 11880), and Slovak Social Democrat Peter Kazimir (see EUROPE 11898).
Finance ministers who are interested in taking the top job must present their applications two weeks before the election, at the Eurogroup meeting of Monday 4 December. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)