Macron Says Competence, Not Nationality, Counts for ECB Chief

(Bloomberg) -- French President Emmanuel Macron indicated that he will focus on competence rather than nationality when discussing who will replace Mario Draghi at the helm of the European Central Bank in 2019.

“I have one desire and that is the next president of the ECB is as competent as the current one, whatever his nationality,” Macron told reporters in Paris Tuesday. “I never reason in terms of nationality.”

Draghi’s eight-year term as president of the ECB ends in late 2019. His successor will lead policy making for a Frankfurt-based institution that almost single-handedly saved the euro during the crisis, and is now deciding how and when to withdraw the stimulus it deployed to fight the recession and pep up the weak economic recovery.

The ECB itself gets little say. As usual with European posts, the delicate balance of power between nations will be a decisive element in the selection process as the euro area’s 19 members haggle, cajole and simply negotiate.

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