Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Lagarde set to lead ECB

  • France's Christine Lagarde was nominated to lead the ECB (Photo: Council of the EU)

Christine Lagarde is set to lead the European Central Bank following a breakthrough deal on top EU jobs at a summit in Brussels on Tuesday (2 July).

The French former finance minister and current managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is now set to succeed Mario Draghi, whose terms comes to an end in October.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Lagarde accepted the nomination on Twitter only moments after it was officially announced by European Council president Donald Tusk.

"In light of this, and in consultation with the ethics committee of the IMF Executive Board, I have decided to temporarily relinquish my responsibilities as IMF managing director during the nomination period," she said.

If confirmed, the 63-year old Lagarde would become the second French national to lead the Frankfurt-based institution. She would also become its first female leader.

The ECB is the central bank of the 19 eurozone countries, tasked to maintain price stability in the euro area and preserve the purchasing power of the single currency.

The French lawyer has been pegged as more of a politician than as an economist, possibly ushering in a new ECB leadership style that departs from the more stoic career economist Draghi.

Although not trained as a economist, Lagarde has spent the past eight years at the helm of the Washington-based IMF.

Earlier this week, she warned of a global slowdown of growth following a sharp increase in trade tensions and Brexit, among other financial difficulties.

She is also not without controversy.

In 2016, she went to trial in an affair that cost the French taxpayer over €400m following a payment to a French tycoon during her time as a finance minister.

Before jumping into politics in France, Lagarde worked as anti-trust and labour lawyer, serving as a partner with the international law firm of Baker & McKenzie.

She was elected the firm's chair in 1999, a post she retained until 2005 when she took up a ministerial position on foreign trade in France.

Ombudsman insists Draghi leaves G30 bankers group

The European Ombudsman says that "maladministration" in the European Central Bank continues to exist as long as its president remains member of the secretive 'Group of Thirty'.

Opinion

Lagarde's ECB must modernise

Christine Lagarde will succeed European Central Bank president Mario Draghi at a time of deepening polarisation among eurozone member states. It will take all of her skills as a leader and communicator to safeguard the institution's independence.

Who are the EU's new leaders?

Three out of the four people to lead the EU institutions in Brussels for the next five years were selected Tuesday, but none are well-known outside their own countries. The fourth, the European Parliament president, is to be chosen Wednesday.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  2. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  3. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  4. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  5. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  6. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  7. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  8. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us