11/07/2022 (Agence Europe) – Two personalities - 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 permanent rescue fund, after Italy’s Marco Buti withdrew on Monday 11 July. Both candidates have “strong support”, but “neither” has obtained the necessary super majority of 80% of the votes in the ESM board, the Eurogroup President, Paschal Donohoe, said. With 27.1 and 20.4% of the votes respectively, Germany and France have a veto. Euro area finance ministers will return to the issue in September on the margins of their informal meeting in Prague. Klaus Regling’s mandate as Director General of the ESM will end at the beginning of October. (MB)