MNI SOURCES: Spain's De Guindos To Get ECB VP, Some Concerns

--Lane's Withdrawal Sees De Guindos As Only Candidate

--Some Concerns Over Direct Move From Eurogroup to ECB Exec Board

by Jean Comte

     BRUSSELS (MNI) - Euro area finance minister will Monday officially nominate

Luis De Guindos to replace Vitor Constancio as ECB vice-president from June

2018, MNI understand. 

     The current Spanish Economy minister is the only candidate remaining in the

race, following the withdrawal earlier in the day of Philip Lane, the governor

of the Irish central bank.

     Several EU officials told MNI that the De Guindos would be a solid ECB

Vice-President, given his long experience as a Eurogroup member.

     "He is very competent," stressed a French official. "He had a long

experience as finance minister and Eurogroup member, and has some good

connections," added a source from the European Parliament.

     The minister himself told key parliamentarians that his role in Madrid

during the financial crisis underlined his credentials. "During the crisis], I

had to take a lot of uneasy decisions," he said during an informal hearing,

according to minutes of the meeting obtained by MNI.

     --MORE HAWKISH

     Still, his position on quantitative easing and monetary policy remains

elusive, as the minister avoided direct public statements on these points. Nor

did he tackle the issue during the meeting with MEPs, the minutes of the meeting

show.

     Nevertheless, observers expect him to take a more hawkish stance than

Constancio, who is among the most dovish members of the ECB board.

     "He is a right-wing politician, so we could expect a more conservative

stance [than Constancio's]," an EU official told MNI when the process began late

last year.

     --INDEPENDENCE ISSUE

     De Guindos's nomination nevertheless appears to be a little tarnished by

concerns regarding the independence of the ECB board. Sources told MNI that they

are concerned about his move directly from a government position to the ECB

Executive Board -- something that never happened before.

     "It's a institution which is supposed to be independent, so maybe it's a

problem that he's directly getting there from a position of finance minister,"

an EU diplomat told MNI.

     Another Parliament source confirmed that the issue made some MEPs

uncomfortable, one of the reasons why they had chosen to support the Irish

candidate.

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

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