ECB post decision crucial for ministers

A NUMBER of issues surrounding the appointment of a new member to the European Central Bank were threatening to delay any decision by EU Finance Ministers meeting in Brussels today.

The main issues were a replacement for Horst Koehler as head of the International Monetary Fund together with some confusion over whether the ministers would vote on the appointment using qualified majority or unanimity.

It was still unclear last night whether Portugal would propose a fourth nominee for the ECB job and ministers could use such a late application as a reason to postpone making any decision this week.

Spain’s Eugenio Domingo Solans is due to step down at the end of May and the candidates for the post so far are Michael Tutty, Ireland’s representative and vice-president of the EIB; Peter Praet, a board member of the Belgian Central Bank; and Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo, a member of the Bank of Spain’s governing board.

Mr Gonzalez-Paramo is considered a favourite for the job but, with the likelihood that another Spaniard, economy minister Rodrigo Rato, is in line for the IMF job, diplomats said it is unlikely two such positions would go to candidates from the same country.

There were signs yesterday that informal agreements that such jobs should be rotated equally between all member states, irrespective of size, was being questioned by Germany in particular.

There was also an understanding that the Ecofin ministers would adopt their own proposal to the draft Constitution that such decisions would be taken by qualified majority.

However, senior diplomats admitted they were no longer sure all finance ministers were prepared to go along with this.

The council secretariat had suggested that, on a strictly informal basis (given that delays were likely in the appointment, but that they had very little time to make their decision), QMV would operate.

“The general sense was that yes, this would be a sensible way to approach it,” according to the secretariat. “In the meantime one or two member states have said they did not consider themselves to be fully buying into that.”

The ministers will have to agree on how the decision will be made before they consider the candidates.