Central Bank: Merz wants to present a German proposal for a position in the ECB leadership next week

Berlin. The European negotiations to succeed ECB boss Christine Lagarde and other top positions at the European Central Bank are gradually moving. “There are agreements pending, but we have not yet concluded them,” said Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) on Friday on the sidelines of the EU summit in Dublin. You need “a few more days” for it.

Merz also announced that he would submit the German proposal next week as part of the upcoming personnel package for the ECB. But the discussions on this have not yet been completed. “I also have to coordinate it with the SPD over the weekend,” added the Chancellor.

The heads of state and government of the euro zone want to appoint a successor to ECB boss Lagarde, who left early in February, by the end of the year. Spain has nominated the head of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Pablo Hernández de Cos, who was also the head of the national central bank. The Netherlands has sent its former central bank chief Klaas Knot into the race.

The appointment is likely to be clarified as part of a personnel package, as other important ECB board positions will become vacant next year: This includes that of Isabel Schnabel. The German economist is stepping down early at the beginning of January and moving to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Possible names for the successor to chief economist Philip Lane have been circulating for weeks - including that of the German economist Markus Brunnermeier, who teaches at the US elite University of Princeton.

As the Handelsblatt reported on Thursday, there are increasing signs that the federal government is aiming for the position of chief economist. The Chancellery wants to fill the second most important position at the ECB with Brunnermeier, several people familiar with the matter told Handelsblatt. France has already indicated support for Hernández de Cos and could secure the directorship position for itself, which the German Isabel Schnabel will be vacating at the turn of the year.