20/07/2020 (Agence Europe) – The new Chair of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, was elected on Monday 20 July as Chair of the Governing Council of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a council upon which the Finance Ministers of the euro area all sit. “I am confident that our collective effort will help the ESM develop to its full potential as a macroeconomic crisis resolution mechanism”, said the Irish Minister of Finance, who took up his position on Monday 13 July, replacing Portugal's Mário Centeno (see EUROPE 12524/1). The Executive Director of the ESM, Klaus Regling, said that under Mr Donohoe's leadership, the permanent eurozone rescue fund will have to perform important tasks, such as responding to potential requests from euro area countries to activate the ESM Pandemic Crisis Support credit line to meet the costs of the Covid-19 pandemic. (MB)