MNI: Eurogroup Set To Elect New President

--Portuguese Mario Centeno Favourite, But Vote Outcome Uncertain

--Eurogroup Then Set To Meet With Non-Euro Area Members, Bar UK

By Jean Comte

     BRUSSELS (MNI) - The Eurogroup will elect a new President Monday, with

Portugal's Mario Centeno the current favourite to win.

     The 19 euro area finance ministers will vote on the successor to Jeroen

Dijsselbloem, whose term as Eurogroup president ends in January. Four ministers

applied for the position last week: Centeno, Pierre Gramegna from Luxembourg,

Peter Kazimir from Slovakia, and Dana Reizniece-Ozola from Latvia.

     Centeno, widely seen as the favorite, has the official backing as candidate

from the centre-left governments, which themselves have the backing of the

centre-right bloc. 

     Kazimir is seen by many as not diplomatic enough for the position following

some comments at the height of the Greek crisis. Gramegna comes from a country

labelled by many as 'tax haven', and Reizniece-Ozola is not known inside the

Brussels 'beltway'.

     But the secrecy of the ballot and the voting procedure (as many rounds as

needed, until one candidate gets 10 votes out of 19) makes the outcome

uncertain. Kazimir or Gragmena could find success securing support from

governments unhappy with Centeno's nomination -- Ireland or Belgium, for

example.

     Other issues could also become an influencing factor, such as

gender-balance (no major EU institution is headed by a woman) or the East/West

balance (Eastern Europe countries have very few high positions).

     --EU FINANCE MINISTERS TO MEET WITHOUT UK

     After the election of a new president, the Eurogroup will meet in an

"extended format" with their non-euro area counterparts, although the UK, set to

leave the EU by Spring 2019, will not be present. This follows a similar rEU27

meeting held in early November

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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