BRUSSELS (MNI) – The decision by the Eurogroup to propose that
current European Central Bank Governing Council member Yves Mersch fill
the vacancy on the Executive Board is a positive one, Mersch’s Council
colleague Ewald Nowotny said Monday.
Speaking on the margins of a podium discussion here, Nowotny, who
heads the Austrian National Bank, said that Mersch, who is now head of
the Central Bank of Luxembourg, “is one of the longest-serving members
of the Governing Council of the ECB. he is extremely knowledgable and
highly respected. I may add he is also a personal friend and I am very
glad that finally this decision has been taken.”
Nowotny declined to discuss the impact of a Mersch appointment on
the balance of hawks and doves on the Executive Board.
“I’m never prepared to discuss in these terms of hawks or doves,”
he said. “I think all members of both the Governing Council and of the
Executive Board act according to the specific needs. There is no such
classification.”
Mersch must still go through the usual process before taking the
vacancy left by the departure in May of Spain’s Jose Manuel
Gonzalez-Paramo. This includes a hearing before the European
Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Commitee, and a final stamp
of approval by EU leaders.
–Frankfurt bureau tel: +49-69-720-142. Email: dbarwick@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$X$$$,M$$EC$,MGX$$$,M$$CR$]
