Luis de Guindos is the new Vice-President of the European Central Bank. The decision came on Monday, and the Spanish finance minister will take the place of the outgoing Vitor Constancio, who expires on May 31st. This is the first step of the path that will lead, in October 2019, to the succession of Mario Draghi. The finance ministers of the euro area will issue a recommendation and, after a non-binding consultation of the ECB and the European Parliament, the final appointment will arrive in March.
Up until a few hours before the Eurogroup meeting running for the vice presidency were Spanish Finance Minister Luis de Guindos supported by Germany e Francia, and Irish Philip Lane, economist appreciated internationally, who for many could also be a potential candidate for the post-Draghi era. L'However, Ireland decided to withdraw Lane's candidacy, opening the doors wide to the appointment of De Guindos. Irish Economy Minister Paschal Donohoe announced: “It is better that the Eurogroup's decision is taken by consensus and not through a vote. We have received very broad support and recognition, but not enough to reach the finish line.”
Draghi and the central bankers of the Eurozone had expressed themselves in recent days in favor of the candidacy of Lane, representative of Northern Europe and on the same line as the current president in relation to accommodating monetary policies.
Berlin, on his side, he backed de Guindos for the vice presidency from the start. However, the Spaniard's name had raised numerous doubts: having a "political" minister in a top position of an independent community body could represent a vulnerability. Furthermore, the appointment of a man "from the South" as deputy would suggest the logical appointment to the presidency of a representative of the countries of the North, with the head of the Bundesbank, the false German huntsman candidate number one.
Spain has not had a representative on the ECB executive committee since 2012. However, many criticize the negative experience of the Spanish de Guindos in Lehman Brothers, from 2006 to 2008, the year of the sensational bankruptcy of the US bank. Others object to its super-austerity and pro-Schaueble position just when Germany itself has taken another path.
There is still a year to go until the end of the Draghi era, but the first indications about the future are already arriving from Brussels. The two hottest names are that of the German Jens Weidman, current president of the Bundesbank, always aligned against the extraordinary measures promoted by Draghi and supporter of the super-austerity line carried out by the former German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble, and that of the French Villeroy de Galhau, name proposed by Mario Draghi.
The elections came a few days after the case of Ilmars Rimsevics, governor of the Central Bank of Latvia and member of the governing council of the ECB, arrested by the anti-corruption office of the Baltic country after eight hours of interrogation and searches of offices and his private home . This was reported by the Bloomberg agency.
"The central bank of Latvia will fully and qualitatively fulfill all obligations entrusted to the institution," Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis said in a statement. "There are no signs of possible risks to Latvia's financial system."
