The election of the new president of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) of the European Central Bank – the only two candidates are women, the Spanish Margarita Delgado and the German Claudia Buch – threatens to cause a strong institutional clash between the institution with headquarters in Frankfurt and the European Parliament.
The Eurochamber has expressed to the president of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, first orally and then by letter, its clear preference for Delgado, current deputy governor of the Bank of Spain, for the position, over which MEPs have the power to veto The message, however, has not been transmitted to the body that will take a decision on this next Thursday, the Governing Council of the central issuer, as published this week by the financial agency Bloomberg. Several parliamentary sources confirm this unusual situation, “maneuvering” that they attribute to Lagarde’s personal preference for Buch, vice president of the Bundesbank.
In July, after hearing and interrogating, behind closed doors, the two candidates for the position, the MEPs of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Eurochamber (ECON) decided by consensus to recommend the appointment of Delgado to the ECB. Although Buch is also considered a very solid candidate, the Spaniard’s long experience in the field of banking supervision achieved what rarely happens in these cases, the unanimity of the political groups. Even the spokesperson of the European People’s Party, the German Markus Ferber, a member of the Bavarian CSU, opted for Delgado.
“The members of the Governing Council of the ECB know this because it was published in the international press this summer”, but not through Lagarde. “When the members of the Economic Affairs Committee issue an opinion, it is not a personal letter to the president. It must be distributed to the body that will make the decision and Parliament expects it to do so and take it into consideration”, says the vice-president of the ECON commission, Eva Poptcheva (Citizens). “What is happening is an anomaly in inter-institutional relations that the European Parliament cannot accept”, he concludes.
Andrea Enria’s term at the head of MUS ends at the end of the year. According to the rules of the institution, although it is the ECB that proposes a candidate for the position, the European Parliament must ratify it, and therefore, to avoid clashes or disagreements, before Frankfurt presents a name, the MEPs hold confidential hearings with the candidates and transmit their conclusions.
In this case, the consensus around Delgado, who has consecrated his career in the banking supervision sector, was total, and the ECB was informed. Lagarde, however, has another opinion and, according to diplomatic sources, bets on Buch’s “technical ability and leadership ability”. Other sources suggest a possible maneuver to place a person of German nationality in the MUS with a view to blocking the passage to Berlin when the mandate of the French expires in 2027.
If the Governing Council of the ECB proposes her as a candidate, the Eurochamber should choose between reaffirming its choice and defending its prerogatives by exercising the right of veto or, on the contrary, accept the Frankfurt candidate, although wasn’t his favorite. Buch’s solid professional profile could end up softening the Eurochamber, although the costs of this potential clash, according to parliamentary and diplomatic sources, worry some countries; but it is not clear what the balance of power is within the ECB, which plans to choose between the two candidates next Thursday.
The high presence of Spaniards at the top of international financial institutions (José Manuel Campa at the European Authority, Fernando Restoy chairs the Financial Stability Institute of the Bank of International Settlements and Pablo Hernández de Cos chairs the Basel Committee) is another factor that can play against Delgado. And, although they are formally unrelated, the coincidence of the vote on the MUS with the negotiations on the replacement of the European Investment Bank, whose presidency Nadia Calviño aspires to, adds one more complication on her way to Frankfurt .
