Brussels sets tight deadline for ECB president nominations

Brussels has given euro zone governments just days to nominate candidates to become the next president of the European Central Bank (ECB), signalling that the race to find Christine Lagarde’s successor could come to a head quickly.

Kyriakos Pierrakakis, president of the Eurogroup and Greek finance minister, has called on the bloc’s 21 member states to submit their nominations by Friday, a spokesperson for the body co-ordinating Eurozone policy said on Tuesday.

Lagarde announced last week that she will step down as ECB president on February 7th, nine months before the end of her eight-year term.

Central Bank of Ireland governor Gabriel Makhlouf said he believes ECB chief economist Philip Lane would be a “great” candidate to succeed Christine Lagarde as president of the ECB.

“I think Philip would be great but I don’t know whether legally doing a further term on the executive board is possible,” he said.

Lane’s eight-year term as chief economist expires in May.

[ Could Ireland’s Philip Lane be in the running for top ECB post?Opens in new window ]

The change in leadership at Europe’s most powerful monetary authority comes as the region is in the throes of another wave of inflation and growing investor concern over the state of France’s public finances and political stability in the run-up to its presidential elections in April.

Lagarde said last week that she wanted “greater freedom to express her views” on matters other than monetary policy. She has also been in talks with the World Economic Forum over becoming its next chair.

The ECB president and the five other members of its executive board are appointed by the leaders of the 21 countries that use the euro, after consulting with the European parliament and the ECB. A successful candidate needs the support of at least 16 countries representing 65 per cent of the euro area’s population.

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EU leaders, who will meet twice this month and again in December, are expected to make a decision before the end of the year on both Lagarde’s replacement and two other seats on the executive board that will also become vacant in 2027.

ECB executive board member Isabel Schnabel will leave to join the IMF in January.

Pablo Hernández de Cos, general manager of the Bank for International Settlements, and Klaas Knot, the former Dutch central bank governor, are seen as the frontrunners to become the fifth ECB president from February. Both are backed by their respective governments.

Hernández de Cos is viewed as a more dovish economist while Knot has a hawkish reputation. However, people familiar with their views stress that both are pragmatists who are keen to forge consensus among policymakers and are not wedded to ideological positions.

After Germany last month signalled that it would not seek the ECB presidency, the odds on a surprise outside candidate to replace Lagarde widened.

However, observers warn that new names could still emerge at the eleventh hour, pointing to the unexpected last-minute nomination of Lagarde by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2019.

According to people familiar with the discussions in various capitals, France is eyeing the ECB chief economist role, which is widely seen as the second most important one after the president. - Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026