On Monday 7 November, Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe initiated the process of electing a new president for the Eurogroup, which he has led since July 2020.
As a candidate for re-election, he noted that he had received an “initial positive response” from his counterparts to the idea of running for a second two-and-a-half-year term.
At the end of last week, the Irish government made the following proposal to the euro area countries: in a cabinet reshuffle, Mr Donohoe will become budget minister in place of Michael McGrath, who will become minister for finance. If Mr Donohoe were re-elected, two Irish ministers would attend the Eurogroup meeting and Mr McGrath would represent Ireland in the Ecofin Council.
The Secretariat of the Council of the European Union will be responsible for carrying out the selection procedure, whereby each country has one vote. The election could take place at the December Eurogroup meeting.
On her arrival in Brussels, Dutch finance minister Sigrid Kaag stressed the importance of “continuity” within the Eurogroup and praised Mr Donohoe’s “experience”. Her Finnish counterpart, Annika Saarikko, said she was “very satisfied” with Mr Donohoe’s work. For Belgian minister Vincent Van Peteghem, Paschal Donohoe is “the right person in the right place”. Nadia Calviño from Spain, the unsuccessful candidate in the election won by Mr Donohoe, said the Irishman had done a “good job”, cutting short any speculation about her possible candidacy. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)