On Sunday 30 June, EU leaders gather in Brussels for more talks about the bloc’s top jobs. The presidencies of the European Commission, Parliament, Council are all up for grabs and, for the first time, the ECB is in play at the same time, with Mario Draghi due to depart at the end of October.
In the NPO Radio 1 programme 'Met het Oog op Morgen', Sandra Phlippen, Assistant Professor at Erasmus School of Economics and Head for the Netherlands at ABN AMRO’s Group Economics, discusses the importance of the appointment of a new president of the ECB.
The ECB presidency is perhaps the most important position that has to be filled, so it will probably take some time until we know for sure who will become the successor of Mario Draghi, says Sandra Phlippen. They have until the end of October to find somebody, as that is when Mario Draghi's term ends. However, before the next president can be appointed, the European Council must approve this choice. This is done in a majority voting procedure, which is decisive.
The president of the ECB has a lot of impact and power, but should the president also be a politician? According to Sandra Phlippen, the ECB president must have political awareness: he must be able to oversee what is happening at the political level in the eurozone and how this is going to affect the economy. Nevertheless, the president of the ECB must also be able to operate independently. His only goal should be to guard the price stability within the eurozone.
The ECB presidency could become part of a package deal between Germany and France. Chancellor Angela Merkel is keen to promote Germany's central bank chief, Jens Weidmann, to the ECB, if her fellow German conservative Manfred Weber fails to secure the Commission job. French President Emmanuel Macron is also keen to promote his own central bank governor, François Villeroy de Galhau, for the Frankfurt position.
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Listen to the entire podcast (in Dutch) on NPO Radio 1 ‘Met het Oog op Morgen’, d.d. 29 June 2019.