EU choose Portuguese ECB deputy chief
(BRUSSELS) - European finance ministers on Tuesday chose Portugal's Vitor Constancio for the key job of deputy head of the European Central Bank (ECB), an EU statement said.
Constancio, 66, will succeed Greece's Lucas Papademos in May, in a decision seen as likely to leave the field open for Bundesbank chief Axel Weber to succeed Jean-Claude Trichet as ECB president in October next year.
Ministers from the 27 European Union countries adopted a recommendation for Constancio that will now go to the European parliament, the ECB's governing council and national leaders for ratification of their choice during a summit next month.
Former socialist lawmaker and party leader Constancio has been governor of Portugal's central bank since 2000 after a first stint at the helm between 1985 and 1986.
Convention dictates that a balance be found between northern and southern European countries when it comes to the allocation of prized top jobs in European institutions.
Germany, Europe's biggest country and most powerful economy, has been lobbying hard for Weber to take the reins after Trichet. Weber will be competing against Italian central bank chief Mario Draghi.
Council recommends the nomination of Vítor Constâncio as vice-president of the European Central Bank
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