Portugal Picks Central Bank’s Ferreira for EU Commission Post

(Bloomberg) -- The Portuguese government has picked Elisa Ferreira, vice governor of the nation’s central bank, to be a member of the next European Commission.

European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen will in due time announce the portfolio assigned to Ferreira, according to an official from the Portuguese prime minister’s office.

Before joining the central bank’s board in 2016, Ferreira spent more than a decade as a Socialist member of the European Parliament, where she sat on the economic and monetary affairs committee.

She was considered a contender to become the euro area’s top bank supervisor but opted not to apply when that post was advertised by the European Central Bank last year. Ferreira holds a PhD in economics from the U.K.’s University of Reading and also served as planning minister and environment minister in Portugal.

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said in a July 19 interview with Radio Observador that various European Commission portfolios are interesting. His finance minister, Mario Centeno, already holds the presidency of the Eurogroup, the euro region’s team of finance chiefs.

• European Commission nominees will go before European Parliament committees starting Sept. 30 to answer questions from lawmakers.
• During the week of Oct. 21, the entire team will be subject to confirmation by the assembly in Strasbourg, France, before it can assume its duties.
• Read more: EU Poised for Another Tussle on Jobs as Executive Takes Shape

--With assistance from Jerrold Colten.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joao Lima in Lisbon at jlima1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Iain Rogers, Zoe Schneeweiss

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.