Brussels, 04/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - German Social Democrat Christa Randzio-Plath, president of the EP's economic and monetary committee affirmed in a press statement that it was high time that the board of governors at the European Central Bank opened up to people other than central bankers. Randzio-Plath said that by broadening its horizons of its directoire would also reflect a long and successful tradition of national central banks. She believes that having members with a an academic or professional experience would have a "positive impact".
Randzio-Plath pointed out that her committee would be holding a hearing on 6 April to confirm the selection of the replacement for Domingo Solans at the board of governors. On 9 March the Ecofin Council is expected to announce the candidacy of Solans' (Spain) successor and that they will be running against another Spaniard, José Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo, Peter Praet from Belgium and Michael Tutty from Ireland (EUROPE 2 March p 10). Solans carried out his main task very well, the transition to the Euro, pointed out Randzio-Plath, who considers that they should now consider opportunities for sharing out the tasks at the board of governors given that the ECB launch phase is now over.