29/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Financial Times writes that Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said in Frankfurt that he had refused to succeed Wim Duisenberg as head of the European Central Bank (Mr Duisenberg is due to leave this post next year, before the end of his mandate, in theory to make way for the governor of the Bank of France Jean-Claude Trichet). According to the FT Mr Juncker refused to say who had approached him and added that he had refused because, as a politician, he did not consider himself to be the most appropriate candidate. We should point out that recently, when answering questions from Euro-MPs, he said: "I won't say anything about the euro, I won't be the next president of the European Central Bank" (see EUROPE June 8, p.3).