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ECB Wins Court Case Over Appointment of Draghi's Top Adviser

ECB Wins Court Case Over Appointment of Draghi's Top Adviser

(Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank won a court case over the appointment of an adviser to President Mario Draghi following allegations that he was handpicked for the job without an open contest.

The European Union’s top court rejected a complaint against the appointment of Roland Straub as coordinator of the counsel to the ECB’s Executive Board, saying the case was inadmissible. It was brought by ECB staff representative Carlos Bowles, who said the process breached rules that require an open contest.

The decision marks a major legal victory for the euro zone’s central bank, which has been fending off criticism about its hiring practices. The institution was forced last year to annul the appointment of the head of its Brussels office after a complaint about the selection process.

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Straub, an economist with more than 10 years of experience at the ECB, was promoted to his role in February last year after serving as counselor to Executive Board member Benoit Coeure.

To contact the reporters on this story: Piotr Skolimowski in Frankfurt at pskolimowski@bloomberg.net;Stephanie Bodoni in Luxembourg at sbodoni@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net

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