On Monday 4 December, the Portuguese Finance Minister, Mário Centeno, was elected by his peers to the head of the Eurogroup for two and a half years, beating the three other candidates in contention, Dana Reizniece-Ozola (Latvia), Peter Kažimír (Slovakia) and Pierre Gramegna (Luxembourg), following two rounds of voting.
Centeno's election comes as no surprise, as the quest for a subtle balance in the distribution of key European positions between the main pro-European political families meant that the position had to be taken by a Social Democrat this time. However, only Kažimír and Centeno are affiliated to the group.
Furthermore, this is the first time that the informal meeting will be chaired by a minister whose country has been under a financial bailout plan, between 2011 and 2014 (see EUROPE 11082).
Upon his arrival at the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the former Dutch finance minister and President of the Eurogroup until 12 January, accidentally let it slip that the Portuguese minister would be taking over from him.
Centeno won eight votes in the first round, with the support of France, Germany, Spain and Italy, amongst others, against five votes for Gramegna and three for the other two candidates. Reizniece-Ozola then withdrew from the race, and Kažimír was persuaded by Pier Carlo Padoan to do likewise. According to a diplomatic source, the Portuguese minister won the election in the second round by a clear majority.
Before the press, Dijsselbloem and Pierre Moscovici, the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, congratulated Centeno. Jean-Claude Juncker also sent the Portuguese minister his congratulations, adding that he had “all the qualities for the task ahead”.
Centeno said that he was honoured to have been elected to the presidency of the Eurogroup and that he was “ready to work”. He is in favour of the idea of a Eurozone budget and stressed his priorities, which include financial stability, convergence and economic resilience.
Centeno will officially take up his duties on 13 January next year and will chair his first meeting on 22 January.
This election will soon be followed by that of the chair of the Eurogroup working group at the Council of the EU. The successor to Austrian diplomat Thomas Wieser will be selected by his or her peers on 11 January before being sworn in by the Eurogroup on 22 January. In light of Centeno's election and the need to maintain a balance within the Eurozone, it is likely that a candidate from central or Northern Europe will be chosen. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)