Germany is holding out for Trichet's job
Tuesday November 17 2009
GERMANY indicated that it is angling for the top job at the European Central Bank when Jean-Claude Trichet's term ends in two years instead of jockeying in the race for two new high-level European Union posts.
Germany, which hasn't held a major European appointment since the 1960s, is sitting out the campaign for EU president and foreign policy chief because it has its sights set on jobs further down the line, Deputy Foreign Minister Werner Hoyer said.
Coming three days before the EU names its first president, the remarks added to speculation that Chancellor Angela Merkel will push Bundesbank chief Axel Weber for the top central banking post when it becomes available in 2011.
Ranking as one of the Frankfurt-based ECB's most ardent inflation fighters, Weber (52), has not yet staked a claim to the post. Italy has come out for its central bank head, Mario Draghi (62).
While Germans have presided over the IMF and NATO, the country hasn't held a top EU position since Walter Hallstein served as the first European Commission president from 1958 to 1967.
Although it is the euro area's largest economy, with a central bank which served as the model for the ECB, Germany did not put up a candidate when the Bank's first president was picked in 1998. It successfully pushed for Wim Duisenberg of the Netherlands, who was succeeded by France's Trichet in November 2003.
Maneuvering over Trichet's replacement ties in with negotiations over the EU appointments that are set to be made at a November 19 summit in Brussels. With 27 countries in the bloc, no single country can hold two major posts at once.
- James Neuger
Irish Independent
