05/12/2022 (Agence Europe) – The only candidate, Irishman Paschal Donohoe, was reappointed as head of the Eurogroup on Monday 5 December for a second two-and-a-half-year mandate, which will begin on Friday 13 January (see EUROPE 13070/32). “Since autumn 2021, the Eurogroup has been at the forefront of assessing and analysing the impact of higher energy prices and inflation on the euro area economy. Now that I am re-elected, my first priority will be to strengthen this coordination”, he said. Prior to the meeting of euro area finance ministers, he met with Pierre Gramegna of Luxembourg, the new executive director of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the euro area’s permanent rescue fund (see EUROPE 13071/13). (MB)