FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A German news media report has stirred new speculation about who will succeed Mario Draghi as head of the European Central Bank, one of the globe’s most powerful economic policy jobs.
The Handelsblatt business publication, citing unnamed government sources, reported Thursday that Chancellor Angela Merkel is willing to drop plans to push for Jens Weidmann, the head of Germany’s national central bank, to get the ECB job.
Instead, the report said Merkel could push for a German to become head of the European Union’s executive commission.
Weidmann has been a leading candidate in speculation about whom the 19 euro governments will choose next year. Names often mentioned include Bank of France head Francois Villeroy de Galhau, Estonia’s Ardo Hansson, Finnish central bank head Olli Rehn, and former Finnish central banker Erkki Liikanen.
