Brussels, 01/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - With the arrival of Jürgen Stark as the Director of the European Central Bank Executive Board, replacing Otmar Issing, the Frankfurt institution began a new distribution of responsibilities among its six member board. The Executive Board decision was adopted on 1 June with immediate effect and operates a more balanced distributions of tasks, which until now were assumed by Mr Issing. According to some observers it will also strengthen President Jean-Claude Trichet's position. The duties assumed by Mr Issing Economist in Chief will now be shared with the Vice-President, Mr Lucas D. Papademos, who will be in charge of Research. Mr Jürgen Stark will be responsible for Economics. Appointed as part of a procedure in which only one candidate was in the running, the former vice president of the Bundesbank will also be in charge of Information Systems, whereas Mr Papademos will also be responsible for with Financial Stability and Supervision. The French President, Mr Trichet, will be responsible for the following areas: Communications; Internal Audit; Secretariat and Language Services. Ms Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell from Austria will be responsible for the following areas: Human Resources, Budget and Organisation; Payment Systems and Market Infrastructure. Mr José Manuel González-Páramo (Spain) will be responsible for the following areas: Banknotes; Market Operations; Statistics. Mr Lorenzo Bini Smaghi (Italy) will be responsible for the following areas: Administration; International and European Relations; Legal Services.