ECB executive board

The expected appointment of Yves Mersch to the executive board of the European Central Bank by Eurozone governments, using a written procedure with no debate, has been blocked after at least one EU member state raised concerns with the procedure. The Greens had criticised plans to use this untransparent procedure (1), with a view to ignoring a vote of the European Parliament against Mersch (2). Commenting on the situation, Green economic and finance spokesperson Sven Giegold stated:

“Thankfully, the use of an arcane written procedure to bulldoze through the appointment of Yves Mersch to the ECB executive board, ignoring the European Parliament's rejection of his candidacy, has been blocked. Appointing Mersch by an opaque written procedure, over a holiday weekend for the Brussels apparatus, would have represented cynical political chicanery in the extreme.

“However, the issue of Yves Mersch’s candidacy and the failure to consider any female candidates for the vacancy on the board remains. The European Parliament should now proceed with a formal request to the Council to withdraw the nomination of Yves Mersch in accordance with article 109 (4) of its rules of procedure.

 “There has been no female member of the ECB's executive board since 2011, a situation compounded by the lack of any female presidents of Eurozone central banks, which sit on the governing council. With no change anticipated on the ECB board before 2018, this means that women will be excluded from the Eurozone's highest decision-making bodies for the near future.”

(1) See the Greens/EFA press release: http://www.greens-efa.eu/ecb-executive-board-8472.html

(2) At its October plenary session, the European Parliament voted to reject the candidacy of Yves Mersch in a consultative vote, citing concerns about the failure to consider any female candidates for the position. See Greens/EFA press release: http://www.greens-efa.eu/ecb-executive-board-8408.html

(3) See the letter from MEPs Sven Giegold and Sylvie Goulard to Council president Van Rompuy http://www.sven-giegold.de/2012/letter-to-herman-van-rompuy-on-the-nomination-of-yves-mersch/