MNI SOURCES: Race For Eurogroup Presidency Enters Final Lap

--No minister officially applied yet, negotiations between capitals ongoing 

--List of potential candidates shrinks, right-wing bloc puts no name forward 

--Final candidate list to be published on Friday

by Jean Comte

     BRUSSELS (MNI) - With less than one week left before the election of the

next Eurogroup President, sources close to discussions told Market News that no

application had been formally put forward yet, with the 19 ministers currently

negotiating on a multilateral basis.

     Finance ministers from the Euro area can apply until the 30 November, at

1200 CET. The list of candidate will then be made public on Friday and the

election is due to take place on the afternoon of Monday December 4.

     One source said that ministers from the centre-right European People's

Party decided yesterday evening not to put forward any candidate. Conservatives

already chair the EU Commission, the EU Parliament and the European Council.

     Social-democrats -- the political group to which current Eurogroup

President Jeroen Dijsselbloem belongs -- said they wanted to keep the position.

     --Left-wing candidates

     But the centre-left camp have not been able to reach an agreement on a

common candidate. Two of them signalled an interest in recent weeks: Mario

Centeno from Portugal and Peter Kazimir from Slovakia.

     Kazimir is clearly a hawk when it comes to fiscal responsibility and public

spending -- meaning his political affiliation would not be a problem for

countries like Germany, Netherlands, or Finland. But, as he was very vocal

during the Greek crisis, he is seen as somewhat undiplomatic -- which could be a

major impediment.

     One source pointed to Italian finance minister Pier Carlo Padoan as a good

alternative, describing him as "a serious minister who would be good for the

job". But the same source admitted that he faces tow obstacles: the fact that he

comes from the same country as ECB President Mario Draghi and the upcoming

election scheduled for the Spring.

     Among other political parties, Belgian minister Johan van Overtveldt, from

the Flemish nationalist party, was recently reported as a possible candidate.

The Liberal Pierre Gramegna from Luxembourg has also expressed an interest in

recent weeks. But Gramegna is seen a weak candidate, given his nationality is

the same as Jean-Claude Juncker, the current EU Commission president and the

country has gained a reputation as a tax haven for the tech giants.

     French Bruno Le Maire, who was interested by the job, finally decided not

to apply for the position, as MNI already reported.

     --ECB and Euro-Working group position

     The final deal could involve other senior positions -- such as the ECB

Presidency and Vice-Presidency, along with thr the Euro Working Group

chairmanship.

     ECB Vice-President Vitor Constancio is due to step down in May 2018. As

already reported by MNI, Spain is aiming to replace him -- possibly with current

Economy minister Luis de Guindos, who was Dijsselbloem's only contender at the

last Eurogroup president election, in June 2015. 

     ECB president Mario Draghi has still two years to go until the end of his

mandate, but Germany is already thought to be pushing to replace him with

current Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann.

     The Euro-Working group, the technical body that prepares the agenda for

Eurogroup meetings, is currently chaired by Austrian Thomas Wieser -- who has

been there since January 2012, but is leaving in January 2018.

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

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