ECB President Christine Lagarde to Resign Early in February 2027; Race to Choose Successor Heats Up

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde will resign early on February 7, 2027, with about nine months left in her term.

AFP-Yonhap News

On October 29 local time, the ECB said in a statement that Lagarde had informed European Council President António Costa of her intention to resign on February 7, 2027. Costa said that the process of selecting her successor would begin that day and proceed without delay.

Lagarde, who previously served as France's finance minister and managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), took office as ECB president in November 2019. She was originally due to leave at the end of October 2027 after completing her eight-year term, but speculation about an early resignation had persisted in recent months.

At a press conference that day, Lagarde said she wanted to speak and act freely on issues beyond monetary policy. "I would like to have the freedom to express myself and participate in matters that are not related to monetary policy," she said.

The early resignation has drawn attention because it comes ahead of France's presidential election in April 2027. Had Lagarde served out her term as planned, her successor would likely have been selected after the next French president took office. But her early resignation gives French President Emmanuel Macron the opportunity to have a say in the selection before leaving office.

However, concerns have been raised that the ECB's independence could be undermined because the central bank president's resignation is timed around France's political calendar. Markus Ferber, a member of the European Parliament, said that if the resignation gives the impression it was timed to coincide with a domestic election, it could damage the credibility of an institution that must remain politically neutral.

By contrast, Marcel Fratzscher, president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), said the early resignation created an opportunity to appoint a successor who would protect European values and the ECB's independence.

Former Dutch central bank governor Klaas Knot and former Bank of Spain governor Pablo Hernández de Cos are widely viewed as leading candidates to become the next ECB president. Bank of Italy Governor Fabio Panetta and European Investment Bank (EIB) President Nadia Calviño are also among the candidates.

The ECB president is appointed by the European Council after consultations among European Union (EU) member states. The positions of Germany and France, the EU's two largest economies, are expected to have considerable influence on the choice of the next president.

The selection also comes amid a series of changes to senior ECB positions. ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel will move to the IMF in January 2027, while Chief Economist Philip Lane's term expires in May 2027. As a result, negotiations among European countries over senior ECB appointments, as well as the selection of the next president, are expected to gather pace.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.