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The appointment of the Portuguese Vitor Constancio to the Vice-Presidency of the European Central Bank (ECB) seems more than a formality. Proposed by the euro-zone finance ministers Monday night, his candidacy was endorsed yesterday in Brussels by the same Ministers of the European Union all. Attention on this episode to high political content completely eclipsed the promotion of an another central banker in the South of Europe, the Italian Mauro Grande, designated by the Executive Board of the ECB to take the head of the General Directorate of financial stability. With this implementation completing an internal reorganization, proposal institution wants to meet the challenges posed by the so-called "macro-prudential" supervision in the euro area.
Staff reinforced
The General Directorate of financial stability has in place of the Directorate for stability and the supervision of the financial system with reinforced strength. The ECB is not only a semantic shift, but registered its action in the European Commission's willingness to enhance financial supervision. Brussels announced last May the establishment of a "European systemic risk Council" (CERS). Its "macro-prudential" oversight will focus on the risks affecting the stability of the financial system in General and not its actors in particular. Remains to obtain the approval of the European Parliament before the operational debut of the Council. It will benefit a secretariat housed within the ECB, but its activity will be disconnected from the Board of Governors of the institution, to avoid conflicts with the conduct of monetary policy.
North-South balance
The CERS will be able to rely on the work of the Directorate led by Mauro Grande. Former supervisor at the Italian Central Bank, he was involved in the genesis of the European Monetary Institute BCE. Joined the ECB in 1998, he has led since 2003 the entity responsible for stability and supervision. It is now comforted his duties with three areas under its responsibility: monitoring of systemic risk, stability and regulation of financial systems in the euro area.
Mauro Grande will report to the Executive Board of the ECB, and in her breast in particular to the Vice-President of the ECB that sits. Today, Greek Lucas Papademos, and no doubt may Vitor Constancio. The ECB has yet to give an opinion on his nomination, then Vitor Constancio will be heard by a commission of the European Parliament, finally the European Heads of State adouberont it at their March summit. The Germany has prompted this nomination while those from the "North", the Belgian Peter Praet and Luxembourg Yves Mersch, appeared best placed to the left. However an unwritten law is that a balance should be established between the South and the North of Europe in the terms of Presidency of the ECB. Constancio as Vice President, the way seems drawn to the German Axel Weber, current President of the Bundesbank, to succeed the President Jean-Claude Trichet in November 2011. The Italian Mario Draghi, the other unofficial candidate, is now of an outsider. Even if Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the Eurogroup, said from yesterday that the decision in Weber "was not itself".
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