Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 19, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 19, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleEuro zone finance ministers will nominate a new ECB vice president, with six candidates competing. The decision will influence future ECB leadership changes.
BRUSSELS, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers aim to nominate on Monday a successor to European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos, whose term expires at the end of May, with six candidates vying for the job.
The six are Portugal's Mario Centeno, Latvia's Martins Kazaks, Estonia's Madis Muller, Finland's Olli Rehn, Lithuania's Rimantas Sadzius and Croatia's Boris Vujcic.
The successful candidate will need the support of at least 16 of the 21 euro area countries, representing at least 65% of the population of the euro zone.
The ECB and the European Parliament will then be consulted before EU leaders take a final decision on the appointment at a summit in March. Neither institution can veto the appointment, however.
Once a new ECB vice president has been chosen, a process to replace most of the European Central Bank's executive board by the end of 2027 will begin, including the position of President Christine Lagarde, whose term expires at the end of October next year.
The six-person ECB board, appointed by EU leaders, has so far been dominated by men from the big four euro zone members - France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The former communist countries in the east that make up a third of the bloc have never held a seat.
Lagarde, a former French economy minister, is the first woman to have led the six-member board that oversees the ECB's day-to-day operations. Since its inception in 1998, women have held 19% of all ECB board member terms.
The vice president's job may be seen as the least important of the four upcoming seats, as those of the chief economist, head of market operations and president must all be replaced by the end of 2027 as their non-renewable terms expire.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank for the euro and administers monetary policy within the Eurozone, aiming to maintain price stability.
The vice president of the ECB assists the president and plays a key role in the decision-making process regarding monetary policy.
Monetary policy refers to the actions undertaken by a central bank to control the money supply and interest rates to achieve macroeconomic goals.
The ECB manages the euro, conducts monetary policy, and ensures the stability of the financial system in the Eurozone.
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