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The European Stability Mechanism’s current chair, Klaus Regling, will step down later this year.
Governments in Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal are all thinking of presenting candidates to head the single currency area’s bailout fund, diplomats and officials told POLITICO.
The European Stability Mechanism’s current chair, Klaus Regling, will step down later this year. The decision on his successor will be made at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on May 23 and confirmed later in June. While the Eurogroup won’t hold a formal vote, its goal is to appoint someone by consensus. The deadline to present a candidate expires on Monday at 6 p.m. CET.
No country has formally offered a candidate yet. But Luxembourg’s Pierre Gramegna, a former finance minister, has made his interest in the job known, an official said. Gramegna put in an unsuccessful bid to head the Eurogroup in 2020 and resigned from the finance minister post in 2021. A spokesperson for Luxembourg’s finance ministry declined to comment.
Italy might also field a candidate, officials said. If an Italian got the job, it would be an interesting twist, given Rome’s aversion under previous governments to draw on the fund, considered politically toxic. A spokesperson for the Italian government declined to comment.
Portugal is also thinking of presenting its own candidate, as is the Netherlands, according to diplomats. Spokespeople from these countries’ finance ministries declined to comment.
The ESM was set up in 2012 in response to the euro crisis by an intergovernmental treaty. Regling, a German national, is stepping down on October 8, after two five-year terms as managing director.
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