The Irishman Pascual Donohoe was re-elected this Monday, by consensus, president of the informal forum of finance ministers of the euro zone, the Eurogroup, serving a second term of two and a half years starting next January 13.
Donohoe, who in the summer of 2020 succeeded Mário Centeno as president of the Eurogroup, was the only candidate for the position in the elections on Monday held during a meeting of finance ministers of the euro zone, since no other minister of the 19 member countries of the single currency space entered a ‘race’.
“It is a great honor to serve as President of the Eurogroup and I am grateful that my fellow ministers have entrusted me with the presidency of our debates for a second term. I have been and will continue to be a true and honest broker in our negotiations, ensuring that all voices and positions be taken into account,” said Donohoe, in a first reaction.
Arguing that, “since the autumn of 2021, the Eurogroup has been at the forefront both in the evaluation and in the analysis of the impact of the increase in energy prices and inflation on the eurozone economy”, the finance minister of Ireland assures that, now that he is re-elected, his “first priority will be to strengthen this coordination.”
The first meeting of the informal forum of finance ministers of the euro zone, where issues of common interest to the 19 countries are discussed and economic policies are coordinated, took place in Luxembourg on June 4, 1998.
The first president of the Eurogroup was the Luxembourger Jean-Claude Juncker -who succeeded José Manuel Durão Barroso in the presidency of the European Commission, where he was replaced after one term by the current leader Ursula von der Leyen-, followed by the Dutchman Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Mario Centeno and Paschal Dononoe.
Source: TSF
