The appointment of Mario Draghi as head of the ECB is expected for today, during the European Council that began yesterday evening in Brussels.
The official decision should have been made yesterday evening, but it didn't happen that way. "It hasn't been talked about," said Silvio Berlusconi, at the end of the summit's inaugural dinner. But the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, assured that the issue will be dealt with today. Vetoes, officially, do not exist: all the countries of the Eurozone agree. But in reality the "Bini Smaghi problem" remains on the table. The Florentine banker, who sits on the board of the European Central Bank, has not yet agreed to resign, to make way for a French colleague. Paris, with Draghi replacing Jean-Claude Trichet, would find itself without representatives on the ECB's steering committee. The problem will have to be resolved before October 31, the date on which the handover to the Eurotower will take place.
