MEPs voted to confirm the appointment of Wim Duisenberg as President of the European Central Bank for eight years. The other nominees for the Board were also approved. The vote took place following a two-day public hearing and an in-depth debate in plenary. The vote for Mr Duisenberg was an overwhelming 439 to 40 with 59 abstentions.
Mr Christian Noyer (Fr) was endorsed as Vice-President for a term of 4 years, Mr Eugenio Domingo Solans (E) as Board member for a term of 6 years, Ms Sirkka Hamalainen (Fin) as Board member for a term of five years, Mr Otmar Issing (D) as Board member for a term of 8 years and Mr Tommasso Padoa Schioppa (It) for a term of 7 years.
Eight British Conservative MEPs were amongst those voting against Mr Duisenberg's nomination, not, as they explained, as a means of signalling hostility to monetary union, but rather as a protest against "the shabby deal" struck at the Brussels Summit.
Others voting against or abstaining included five British Labour members, some Italian members of the "Forza" group, former Communists from France, Greece and Spain, several Scandinavians and one of Northern Ireland's MEPs, Jim Nicholson.
President-in-Office Gordon Brown assured MEPs that the ECB would report regularly to Parliament. The President would provide Parliament with an annual report. Members of the Executive Board could also be called in front of expert parliamentary committees and there would be quarterly meetings with MEPs on economic and monetary developments.
Mr Brown stressed that Europe's citizens needed to have confidence in the Central Bank and that Parliament had a crucial role to play in this area. There was, he said, a movement for greater openness across the economic world with clarity of objectives being highlighted to ensure maximum credibility. He emphasised that the single currency needed to provide price stability to ensure high levels of growth.
Allan Donnelly (UK, PES) noted that when price stability had been achieved, the Bank should contribute to the broader economic objectives of job creation and growth. Parliament would be seeking a meeting with Mr Duisenberg to flesh out how the Bank would be fighting unemployment.
Fernand Herman (B, EPP) had no real worries about the ability of the candidates to perform their respective tasks. The hearings had shown that all six candidates had a clear view of their role, he said. In addition, the European Parliament had established a dialogue with the members of the Bank's board and this on-going process would contribute to increasing transparency, vital for future EU economic and monetary policy to be understood, he said.
Pat Cox (Munster, ELDR) felt Parliament's hearings had restored dignity to the process, which had been soured by the row at the Summit over Mr Duisenberg's appointment. He noted that Mr Duisenberg had confirmed that he would stay at least until the year 2002 and that any decision to retire would be his own.
Earlier in the month, at a special session, MEPs voted by 468 votes to 64 with 24 abstentions to approve the recommendation of the Finance Ministers that 11 countries had fulfilled the necessary conditions for the adopting of a single currency.