On Wednesday 14 May, the members of the European Parliament approved, by a small majority (331 votes to 306 and 64 abstentions), the appointment, from June, of Luis de Guindos, who has recently stepped down from the position of Spanish Finance Minister, to the vice-presidency of the European Central Bank (ECB), to replace Portugal's Vitor Constancio.
The vote was preceded by intensive discussions and debates between the various political groups. The European Parliament's economic and...