European Union finance ministers are set to pass judgment on Ireland’s strategy to retain the chair of the Eurogroup on Monday, after the Government confirmed it would nominate Paschal Donohoe for a second term as president.
Under the Irish proposal, Mr Donohoe would act as President of the Eurogroup while holding the position of Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, a slight departure from the norm for a position that is usually held by a finance minister of one of the member states.
The government’s Minister for Finance, expected to be Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath after the reshuffle in December, would also attend the meetings in the role of Ireland’s representative under the plan.
Whether this idea will pass muster will become clearer on Monday when the election process begins, as the finance ministers of the 19 euro-using countries gather in Brussels to discuss the darkening economic outlook and prospects for the euro zone area.
The member states will be invited to submit candidates within the coming weeks if they wish to challenge Mr Donohoe to take up the position when his current term ends in mid-January.
The idea of two people from the same country attending Eurogroup has been received with scepticism in some quarters, but supporters of Mr Donohoe argue that there is precedent for this to happen and no legal obstacle. “There is some precedent,” one diplomat said.
For a period, Luxembourg had a separate finance minister who attended while Jean-Claude Juncker was Eurogroup president as well as being his country’s prime minister.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem was replaced as Dutch finance minister in October 2017, but served out his term as Eurogroup President until January 2018, while his successor also attended the meetings as the representative for the Netherlands.
But EU officials and diplomats were tight-lipped on Friday as to whether the proposed Irish solution would pass muster.
“We were really in favour of the current president and we voted for him,” a second diplomat said. “I cannot speculate on what the consequences of what’s happening in Ireland will be for the Eurogroup.”
The position of president of the Eurogroup is highly-valued by member states, and if opposition emerges to the idea of having two attendees from one country, other EU countries could back rival candidates to Mr Donohoe.
However, officials said Mr Donohoe was well thought of as president, and that member states could prefer to avoid the uncertainty of holding a contest for the presidency in a period of economic turbulence and geopolitical challenges.
An attempt to find a new managing director of the European Stability Mechanism to replace the outgoing Klaus Regling has run into difficulties, with no candidate able to gather sufficient support.
The vote for the Eurogroup president is expected to take place in their next meeting on December 5th.
While the Eurogroup president role does not have lawmaking power, it is an influential position particularly in times of crisis that involves working with top global decision-makers to broker compromise on some of the European Union’s big fault line issues, such as fiscal policy.
Ireland’s success in winning the position in 2020 was welcomed by Irish officials as symbolising a restoration in Ireland’s reputation as economically sound, following the troubled years of the financial crisis and bailout.
“The Government will nominate Minister Paschal Donohoe for a second term as President of the Eurogroup,” a Government spokesperson said on Friday.
“The Irish Minister for Finance, will represent Ireland, and will attend Eurogroup and ECOFIN. If he is re-elected, Minister Donohoe will carry out his duties as President of the Eurogroup, as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.”
