The Meeting in Brussels

Published: 25 March 2004 y., Thursday
European Union leaders meeting in Brussels aim to choose a successor to European Central Bank board member Eugenio Domingo Solans, a decision that has become entwined with the quest for a new chief of the International Monetary Fund. Solans, 58, steps down from the ECB in May and Spain wants another national to replace him. Spain is also fielding a candidate to replace Horst Koehler, 61, who quit the IMF to run for Germany's presidency. EU leaders are unlikely to give both jobs to Spaniards, said economists including Paul De Grauwe, who was twice Belgium's candidate for an ECB board seat. The EU has already delayed naming a replacement for Solans as small countries balked at a German-led bid to maintain ECB seats for bigger countries. Solans is one of six members of the ECB board, which along with the 12 national central bank governors, sets interest rates for the currency region stretching from Lisbon to Helsinki. Previous decisions on filling such posts have led to damaging public disputes. French President Jacques Chirac insisted in 1998 on cutting short the term of the ECB's first president, Wim Duisenberg, so that France's Jean-Claude Trichet could take over. Koehler's appointment to the IMF in May 2000 came after four months of haggling between EU governments and the U.S. The IMF has been run by a European since it was founded after World War II.
Šaltinis: Bloomberg
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Commission approves amendment to Lithuanian crisis measure allowing small amounts of aid

The European Commission has approved, under EC Treaty state aid rules, an amendment to a Lithuanian scheme allowing aid to be granted of up to €500 000 per company, initially approved on 8 June 2009. more »

The EU and Russia reinforce the Early Warning Mechanism to improve prevention and management in case of an energy crisis

As agreed by the President of the European Commission and the President of the Russian Federation during the last EU-Russia Summit in Khabarovsk, the EU and Russia have strengthened the current dispositions under the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue to prevent and manage potential energy crises, with an enhanced Early Warning Mechanism. more »

EU provides EUR 1 billion for trade facilitation in developing countries

The European Union has today presented to the World Trade Organization the trade facilitation projects it has financed between 2006 and 2008. more »

Commission approves Romanian state guarantee to Ford Romania

The European Commission has authorised, under the EC Treaty’s rules on state aid, a planned state guarantee by Romania to enable Ford Romania SA to access a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). more »

Getting out of the red

The economic crisis has left many countries with budget deficits well over the 3% limit. The commission is proposing deadlines for reducing the gaps. more »

In October 2009 prices for consumer goods and services went down by 0.4 per cent

Statistics Lithuania informs that in October 2009, against September, prices for consumer goods and services went down by 0.4 per cent. more »

Lithuania and China aim at strengthening economic and trade dialogue

Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Šarūnas Adomavičius took part in bilateral political consultations with representatives from foreign affairs, commerce and transport ministries of the People’s Republic of China. more »

Excessive Deficit Procedure steps: the Stability and Growth Pact as the anchor for fiscal exit strategies

Under the budgetary surveillance powers conferred by the EU Treaty, the European Commission today proposed to the Council to set 2013 as the deadline for the correction of the budget deficits in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Portugal. more »

World Bank and Moldova Join Forces to Fight Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture

A joint partnership between the World Bank, the Moldovan Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and the Ministry of Environment was launched in Moldova’s capital in the late days of October. more »

World Bank Group President Zoellick Launches Global Urban Strategy at Inaugural Infrastructure Finance Summit

World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick today joins senior officials from the Government of Singapore to launch a new global urban strategy that will guide Bank advisory services and financing in the sector over the next decade. more »