The Parliament stops the Ecb’s Board member: he is a man

The confrontation between European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann about the plan to save the euro by buying up the bonds of distressed eurozone countries was not enough. Now there is also another confrontation between the financial institution an the European Parliament. The hearing of ECB executive board candidate Yves Mersch, Governor of the Central Bank of Luxembourg, scheduled for Monday in the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee has, in fact, been postponed. The decision was made because the EP wanted a woman in that board, also to respect the European Commission commitment to increase the number of women on company boards to reach a significant gender balance. “The decision was taken after it became evident that no female candidate had been considered for the position” said Sharon Bowles (Alde), Chair of the committee.

The seat is vacant because Mr Gonzalez Paramo’s mandate expired on 31 May. The Council was only able to reach a decision on a recommendation of Mr Mersch in June. “There is now not even a single woman sitting on the main board of what is one of the most powerful and essential institutions in the EU. The symbolic and practical effects of this absence are not without note” Bowles added. She critics the Euro Group chief Jean-Claude Juncker: “I wrote to Jean-Claude Juncker requesting that the Euro Group consider at least one candidate of each gender before making a recommendation for the replacement of Mr Paramo. I also encouraged him to implement a medium-term plan to facilitate advancement of women to influential positions in the ECB and national central banks, as well as within finance ministries. I have received some verbal assurances that no suitable women could be located, but no formal reply nor answer concerning the medium-term plan. In consequence it is felt that our concerns have not been addressed in a sufficiently rigorous way and that it is not appropriate to proceed with the hearing at this point in time”.