The Irish Finance Minister, Paschal Donohoe, announced on Tuesday 18 November that he was resigning from his ministerial post and from his position as President of the Eurogroup, after agreeing to become number two at the Washington-based World Bank.
“The opportunity has now presented itself for me to further contribute to this [international] cooperation at a different level. I will soon be taking up the role of Managing Director (...) of the World Bank Group”, declared Mr Donohoe, announcing his resignation from his post “effective from today”.
Re-elected by consensus in July for a third term at the head of the Eurogroup (see EUROPE 13675/2), Mr Donohoe described the experience as “one of [the] greatest honours” of his career. He praised the work done with his colleagues to deepen Economic and Monetary Union through the coordination of national budgetary policies, the enlargement of the euro area and greater integration of capital markets.
In accordance with the Eurogroup’s internal rules, the finance ministers of the euro area countries will have to elect a new president as soon as possible. In the meantime, the Cypriot minister, Mákis Keravnós, will act as interim president.
See the Eurogroup’s working methods: https://aeur.eu/f/ji0 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)