MILANO – The name of Daniele Franco returns to join that of the EIB, the European Investment Bank in search of a next president. And that of Piero Cipollone at the European Central Bank, replacing the outgoing Fabio Panetta.
A whirlwind of indications that therefore seems to come back to the starting point, or rather the candidacy of the former Minister of Economy of the Draghi government, formerly Bank of Italy and State Accounting, to the seat of the European Investment Bank. It is the result, reported byAnsaof a conversation held today between Minister Giorgetti and Franco himself.
The Italian government, MEF sources underline, is convinced of the validity of the proposal and notes that in recent weeks consensus has grown in European circles for the Italian candidacy.
The match for the EIB is intertwined with that of the ECB, and in recent weeks it had been the subject of a dangerous (and inexplicable, in the eyes of the European institutions) reshuffling of the cards on the Italian side.
In July, the finance ministers had left with the idea that Italy would propose the name of Cipollone, Italian deputy governor, as successor to Fabio Panetta, the next governor of the Bank of Italy, on the executive committee of the ECB. Name appreciated, that of Cipollone, for the skills in line with those of Panetta (on the digital euro, for example), as well as for the fact that he was the expression of the highest independent authority in Italy.
In recent days, however, a possible course correction has emerged, with the name of Franco – hitherto associated, in fact, with the EIB – emerging from the Treasury offices as a possible replacement for Panetta. A multiple candidacy that also surprised the European interlocutors. MEF sources specify that Franco has always been the candidate for the EIB.
However, now we return to the original scheme. Running for Franco are the current Deputy Prime Minister and Spanish Finance Minister, Nadia Calviño, and the Vice President of the EU Commission Margrethe Vestager. The strings will be pulled at the informal meeting of ministers in Santiago de Compostela on 15-16 September.
Cipollone, on the other hand, seems to have the road paved for the board of the ECB. “Italy is the only country to have proposed a candidate” for the ECB board in place of Fabio Panetta, announced the president of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, upon expiry of the deadlines for the presentation of candidates for the Eurotower Executive Board. His candidacy, added Donohoe, will also be discussed at the Eurogroup in mid-September.