Why ECB board’s last vacant spot is sparking interest among member countries – The National

Why ECB board’s last vacant spot is sparking interest among member countries – The National

The vacancy on the board provides an opening for governments in the bloc's East from Slovenia to Estonia to win their first ever seat





























Euro-zone finance ministers will choose the candidate to fill the vacant spot in the ECB's executive board. Bloomberg  











The final chance for more than half a decade to reshape the European Central Bank's inner sanctum of policy making will soon spark a tussle for influence between the region's smaller countries.



The vacancy on the six-person executive board that the departure of Luxemburg's Yves Mersch will create in December will be the last one available until 2026. The contest to fill it will end a round of appointments that included Christine Lagarde's groundbreaking elevation as the ECB's first female chief.



With citizens of all four of the region's biggest economies already on the board, Mr Mersch's succession offers a rare prize to the rest. That could provide a historic opening for governments in the bloc's East from Slovenia to Estonia to win their first ever seat, or for others from the Netherlands to Finland to clinch a second