France and Germany are close to a deal that would install Spain's Pablo Hernández de Cos as the next president of the European Central Bank, succeeding Christine Lagarde. The two candidates are Hernández de Cos, a former Bank of Spain governor, and Klaas Knot, a former Dutch central bank chief. An EU official named them on Friday as leaders met in Dublin. The Eurogroup confirmed both nominations last week. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron met on Thursday and are holding "intensive" talks, with Merz saying on Friday that "agreements were in sight but not yet final."
Under the proposed package, Berlin would secure the chief economist post, considered the ECB's second most important job, while Paris would take the market operations seat vacated by Germany's Isabel Schnabel. Schnabel leaves on 3 January for the International Monetary Fund. The chief economist role, held by Ireland's Philip Lane until May, would go to Markus Brunnermeier of Princeton University or Tobias Adrian, a former IMF official, German media reported. France's candidate for market operations is Laurence Boone, a former OECD chief economist.
France prefers Hernández de Cos over Knot because his moderate monetary policy stance suits a country under fiscal strain, El País reported. The appointment would make Hernández de Cos the first Spanish economist to lead the ECB. A German government spokesperson said Berlin wanted "adequate" representation in the ECB's leadership and expected a deal by year's end.
European Council President António Costa aims to begin consulting the European Parliament and the ECB's Governing Council at the EU summit on 26 November. A deadline of 18 November has been set for nominations to the other two Executive Board vacancies. Merz said he needed more days to consult coalition partners before presenting Germany's proposal next week.
The talks face obstacles, including German coalition disagreements and concerns about southern European overrepresentation in top financial posts. Choosing Hernández de Cos would also open the general manager position at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, where he has served since 1 July 2025. Three of the six Executive Board members are due to leave within five months.
