Eurozone to lose ‘de facto president’ when Trichet goes

WHEN Jean-Claude Trichet retires on October 31, the euro area may lose more than just a European Central Bank president.

Mr Trichet has emerged as Europe’s key policy maker during the sovereign debt crisis, holding the 12-year-old monetary union together as heads of state squabble over their response.

While ECB officials have sometimes split over the direction, under Mr Trichet, the central bank showed itself more willing and able to act than the bloc’s 17 finance ministers and government leaders.