Ireland's Donohoe On Track To Lead Eurogroup For New Term

Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is on track to remain head of the Eurogroup -- a grouping of the 19 countries using the euro -- after emerging as sole candidate for a new term

Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Nov, 2022 ) :Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is on track to remain head of the Eurogroup -- a grouping of the 19 countries using the euro -- after emerging as sole candidate for a new term.

The European Council said in a statement that Donohoe was the only participating minister to put forward a candidacy by Thursday's deadline -- meaning the others effectively endorsed him continuing in the post for another two-and-a-half years.

Donohoe, 48, has chaired the group since July 2020. The Eurogroup formally elects its president on December 5, with the new mandate starting on January 13, 2023.

The Eurogroup is an informal body, but its chief carries weight in Brussels policy-making.

The post-holder is tasked with ensuring the coordination of national policies of the euro-using EU countries -- a job whose importance was highlighted during the 2008 global financial crisis.

It was also a key position involved in shoring up much of the EU as it was buffeted by the economic ravages of Covid, and will be in the spotlight again as Europe teeters into recession, largely because of fall-out from the Russian war in Ukraine.

If, as expected, Donohoe is once again named Eurogroup president, he will, unusually, hold that post while losing his Irish finance ministry portfolio.

This is because, under a previously agreed political arrangement in Ireland, Irish Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar will on December 17 become prime minister -- a job he held before -- while current Prime Minister Micheal Martin becomes his deputy PM.

That will lead to a cabinet reshuffle in which Donohoe is expected to become the minister for public expenditure while someone else steps into his finance portfolio.

Unusual as it may be, it won't be the first time a former finance minister continued as chief of the Eurogroup.

Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker stepped down from his finance portfolio part way through his 2004-2013 stint heading the group. His next job was president of the European Commission.