President
The current president of the group, dubbed Mr Euro or the president of the eurozone, is Jeroen Dijsselbloem (current Minister of Finance of the Netherlands).
In September 2004, the Eurogroup decided it should have a semi-permanent president that is to be appointed for a period of two years. Finance Minister and then Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker was appointed first president of the Eurogroup, mandated from 1 January 2005, until 31 December 2006, and was re-appointed for a second term in September 2006. Under the Lisbon Treaty, this system was formalised (see "legal basis" below) and Juncker was confirmed for another term.
The Presidency has helped the strengthening of the group, as before Juncker's appointment the Eurogroup was only 'accidentally' present at meetings in the European Parliament. Since the creation of the Presidency, the president attends Parliament's committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs every six months.
After his reappointment as Eurogroup president in January 2010, Juncker emphasised the need to increase the scope of the Eurogroup's activities. In particular in terms of co-ordinating economic policies and representation. Juncker proposed creating a small secretariat for the group of four to five civil servants to prepare the meetings. However although France and Spain support such plans, Germany is worried that strengthening the group could undermine the independence of the European Central Bank.
In June 2012, the Estonian minister Jürgen Ligi was being considered as a possible successor for Mr. Juncker. As of January 2013, Juncker hinted that his probable successor would be Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who was appointed second president of the Eurogroup on 21 January 2013.
Read more about this topic: Euro Group
Famous quotes containing the word president:
“To be President of the United States, sir, is to act as advocate for a blind, venomous, and ungrateful client; still, one must make the best of the case, for the purposes of Providence.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)
“Oh, the shame of it! That I should live to see a son of mine try to take a dame away from his father!”
—S.J. Perelman, U.S. screenwriter, Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, and Norman Z. McLeod. Groucho Marx, Horsefeathers, Huxley College president after catching his son Frank (Zeppo Marx)
“Let him [the President] once win the admiration and confidence of the country, and no other single force can withstand him, no combination of forces will easily overpower him.... If he rightly interpret the national thought and boldly insist upon it, he is irresistible; and the country never feels the zest of action so much as when the President is of such insight and caliber.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)