Former Central Bank deputy governor Stefan Gerlach has called for change in how countries nominate candidates to the European Central Bank (ECB) after a tide of criticism against its policies.
Earlier this year, Mr Gerlach also publicly questioned what he called the "very odd" decision by Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe to appoint Gabriel Makhlouf over Sharon Donnery to replace Philip Lane as Ireland's governor.
Mr Gerlach left the Central Bank in 2015 and he is now chief economist at EFG Bank in Zurich.
His latest comments come after ECB board member Sabine Lautenschlager, a German nominee on the executive board of the bank, resigned over its easy-money policies, following criticism from the German, French, Dutch and Austrian central banks of a rate cut and new bond purchases announced at the last rate-setting meeting.
There are now two places open on the ECB's six-strong executive board that will likely be filled by Italian and German appointees.
Mr Gerlach said the two countries would have greater heft at the bank if they did not promote candidates who forcefully pushed what he termed "the national view".
Citing Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann's failed bid for the ECB presidency, Mr Gerlach said he had pursued policies that were too far from the central consensus at the bank, so he was effectively ignored. "Although (Mr) Weidmann's inflexible stance may have strengthened his profile in Germany as a firm supporter of monetary rectitude, it rubbed too many other council members and eurozone governments the wrong way," Mr Gerlach wrote on Project Syndicate.
"Council members who are too far away from that centre, even if they are in tune with national sentiment, are disregarded and lose influence," he said.
If they want to increase their influence at the ECB, Mr Gerlach said Italy and Germany would be better served by candidates "who do not have predictable and rigid opinions".
This type of candidate would be able to "help forge broad agreements in the governing council in support of policy decisions", he said.
Outgoing ECB president Mario Draghi, who famously rescued the eurozone in 2012, had looked on track to clear the way for his successor, Christine Lagarde, to continue a policy of low interest rates and bond purchases.
However, the surprising strength of opposition to this may make it hard to achieve consensus.
According to research from economics consultancy TS Lombard, those divisions are only likely to deepen as a result of ECB policy.
Its chief economist Charles Dumas wrote in a report yesterday: "ECB policy looks biased from a German standpoint. While its stimulus value is highly disputable, one thing it certainly does is transfer cash from savers - ie, in the German view, Germans - to borrowers."
He added: "If Japanese experience is anything to go by, negative interest rates may erode long-term growth prospects."
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