Brussels, 02/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) adopted on 2 March an opinion on the EU Council's recommendation on the appointment of a new member of the ECB Executive Board, Jürgen Stark of Germany, who is to replace his compatriot, Otmar Issing, formerly Chief Economist at the Bank (see EUROPE 9131 for the unanimous decision by Eurogroup members endorsed by the Ecofin Council). An ECB press release states that the Governing Council has no objection to the appointment of the candidate put forward, who is a “person with reputed authority and professional experience in the monetary and banking field, as required under Article 112, paragraph 2, point b, of the Treaty establishing the European Community” (we recall that Jürgen Stark, Bundesbank Vice-President, was also Secretary of State for Finance at the time of Chancellor Kohl). The press release specifies that, after this ECB opinion and an opinion from the European Parliament, the new member of the Executive Board will be appointed by common accord by the governments of the euro zone countries, at the level of Heads of State and Government.
Jürgen Stark will be heard by the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on 18 April before the plenary vote. The chairperson of the parliamentary committee, French Socialist Pervenche Berès, states in a press release that this hearing will be “the moment to raise important questions on the conditions in which the members of the Executive Board are appointed” (Spanish José Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo had replaced his compatriot Eugenio Domingo in 2004, and Italian Lorenzo Bini-Smaghi succeeded Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa in 2005, which, for some MEPs, raises the question of whether there are “permanent seats” for the large Member States in the six Executive Board seats: EUROPE 9136). Ms Berès comments: the “Jürgen Stark's arrival (…) turns its back on economic policy based on relaunching internal demand”.