The finance ministers from the eurozone will nominate, on January 19, a candidate from among the six who have submitted their applications for the position of Vice President of the European Central Bank (ECB). The new Vice President will replace the Spaniard Luis de Guindos, whose term expires at the end of May, reports IPN.
The six candidates are: Mario Centeno from Portugal, Martins Kazaks from Latvia, Madis Muller from Estonia, Olli Rehn from Finland, Rimantas Sadzius from Lithuania, and Boris Vujcic from Croatia, declared Kyriakos Pierrakakis, the chairman of the group of finance ministers, quoted by Reuters.
The nominated candidate will need to secure the support of at least 16 out of the 21 eurozone countries. The European Central Bank and the European Parliament will be consulted before the EU leaders make the final decision at the March summit. However, neither of the two institutions holds a veto right over the appointment.
The selection of the next Vice President of the ECB will kick off a two-year process to replace the majority of the Executive Board members, including President Christine Lagarde, in 2027.
The Executive Council of the ECB is made up of six members. The former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which represent about a third of the EU member states, have so far had no representation in this forum.
