By Brian Blackstone and Nina Koeppen
The EUs Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs is due to question the three official candidates for ECB vice president at a nonpublic hearing on Jan. 14, Dow Jones Newswires reported Wednesday. European finance ministers will discuss the nominations informally at their next meeting on Jan. 19, with a formal proposal due in mid-February. The candidate must then be approved by EU heads of state.
The candidates to fill the slot currently held by Lucas Papademos of Greece (whose eight-year term expires in May) are Portugese central bank governor Vitor Constancio; Luxembourgs central bank head Yves Mersch and Peter Praet, who is a director at the National Bank of Belgium.
Of course, the ECBs number two doesnt carry nearly the weight in financial markets as ECB president, which has been held since 2003 by Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet.
But this months discussions are effectively a starting gun to a more than 18-month process that will culminate with a replacement to Trichet, whose eight-year term expires in October 2011.
European posts, including those at the ECB, are often subject to considerations over how the regions large and small economies are represented. The euro zones four largest economies Germany, France, Italy and Spain have a big voice on the ECBs governing council with each having a Frankfurt-based executive board member in addition to their national central bank governors.
Based on the 3 candidates, the VP slot will stay with one of the smaller countries. Germanys Axel Weber and Italys Mario Draghi are thought to be leading contenders for the top post. And whoever gets the number-two job, it will inevitably be scrutinized for implications regarding the presidency.