Of the four official candidates, three personalities - Italy’s Marco Buti, Luxembourg’s Pierre Gramegna and Portugal’s João Leão - are still in the running to head the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the euro area’s bailout fund, to replace Klaus Regling whose second five-year term expires in October (see EUROPE 12943/22).
After a presentation of the candidacies, we held an indicative vote at the end of which “the Netherlands have decided to withdraw their candidacy”, said the Eurogroup President, Paschal Donohoe, on Monday 23 May.
Two votes are said to have been held. The first round reportedly showed that the Dutch candidate, Menno Snel, had the least support. In a second round, Mr Buti is said to have received the least support of the three remaining candidates, but Italy did not withdraw his candidacy.
Convinced that the Eurogroup meeting had provided clarity on the issue, Mr Donohoe said that consultations would continue with all Member States, especially those that had put forward candidates, with a view to a final decision by the ESM Board on Thursday 16 June in Luxembourg.
To be appointed, a candidate must receive more than 80% of the votes within the ESM Board, with each euro area country holding a weighted vote according to its share in the capital of the rescue fund. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)