Hernández De Cos And Knot Put Forward To Succeed Lagarde At ECB

Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis said in a statement on 6th November that two candidacies had been received for President of the European Central Bank (ECB): Pablo Hernández de Cos of Spain and Klaas Knot of the Netherlands. Member states had been asked to send nominations by that day. The Eurogroup will take stock of them at its next meeting on 9th November. The Council of the EU's press-release feed names Pierrakakis as the statement's issuer.

The statement says Lagarde told the President of the European Council on 29th October that she would resign by 7th February 2027. The ECB's own press release of the same day says she informed the Governing Council and European Council President António Costa that she will step down on that date.

The Two Candidacies

Hernández de Cos is General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which says it "supports central banks' pursuit of monetary and financial stability through international cooperation". According to the BIS, he took up that role on 1st July 2025 and was appointed for a five-year term. Before that he was Governor of the Bank of Spain from 2018 to June 2024, a member of the ECB's Governing Council and Chair of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision from 2019 to 2024.

Knot's De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) curriculum vitae lists roles he has held: DNB President from July 2011, member of the ECB Governing Council and, from December 2021, Chair of the Financial Stability Board. The ECB's Governing Council page lists Olaf Sleijpen as President of De Nederlandsche Bank and does not list Knot. The sources read do not state Knot's current post, so this article does not give one.

How The Appointment Works

Under Article 283 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the European Council appoints the President of the ECB by qualified majority, on a recommendation from the Council. The Treaty requires the European Parliament and the ECB's Governing Council to be consulted first. It also sets an eight-year term that is not renewable.

The Eurogroup statement adds that the Council acts by a reinforced qualified majority of euro area member states: at least 16 of the 21 euro area countries, representing at least 65% of the euro area population. The statement says the ECB and the European Parliament will be consulted before the European Council decides. No dates for those later steps appear in the statement.

Where The ECB President Sits

The ECB's Governing Council, made up of the six Executive Board members and the euro area's national central bank governors, formulates monetary policy for the euro area, including key interest rates. The President is one of those six board members.

Bored Node's report on US PCE inflation lists the ECB keeping its deposit facility rate at 2.50% alongside the US figures, and its report on October US payrolls covers the Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs release.

What Is Unclear

The Eurogroup statement does not say whether further candidacies could be added, when the Council will make its recommendation or when the European Council will decide. The sources read do not describe the ECB's or Parliament's consultation timetable.