Eurogroup open to joint decision on three senior ECB posts

Eurogroup president Kyriakos Pierrakakis says European leaders could decide together on three senior European Central Bank appointments, although the choice of the bank’s next president rests with EU leaders and is expected by the end of the year.

ECB president Christine Lagarde is due to leave in February. Dutchman Klaas Knot and Spaniard Pablo Hernández de Cos are candidates to succeed her. ECB executive board member Isabel Schnabel and chief economist Philip Lane are also due to leave early next year.

Pierrakakis raised the possibility of deciding on all three positions at once after meeting eurozone finance ministers. He said there was a “tight deadline” to choose Lagarde’s successor before the end of the year.

European leaders are expected to discuss the top ECB job at a summit in December. The appointment requires the backing of 16 of the 21 eurozone countries.