President of the European Central Bank

The President of the European Central Bank is the head of the European Central Bank (ECB), the institution responsible for the management of the euro and monetary policy in the Eurozone of the European Union (EU).

Role and appointment

The President heads the executive board, governing council and general council of the ECB. He also represents the bank abroad, for example at the G20. The President is appointed by majority in the European Council, de facto by those who have adopted the euro, for an eight-year non-renewable term. However the first President, Duisenberg, did not serve his full term.

History

The French interpretation of the agreement made with the installation of Wim Duisenberg (who previously headed the European Monetary Institute) as President of the ECB was that Duisenberg would resign after just four years of his eight year term, and would be replaced by the French Jean-Claude Trichet. Duisenberg always strongly denied that such an agreement was made and stated in February 2002 that he would stay in office until his 68th birthday on 9 July 2003.

In the meanwhile Jean-Claude Trichet was not cleared of legal accusations before 1 June 2002, so he was not able to begin his term after Duisenberg's first four years. Even on 9 July 2003 Trichet was not cleared, and therefore Duisenberg remained in office until 1 November 2003. Duisenberg died on the 31 July 2005.

During his tenure, Trichet has had to fend off criticism from French President Nicolas Sarkozy who...
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