Luxembourg Loses Out to Ireland in Bid for Eurogroup Presidency

Luxembourg's Minister of Finance Pierre Gramegna has lost out to his Irish counterpart Paschal Donohoe, who was elected the new President of the Eurogroup on Thursday.

On 9 July 2020, the nineteen Eurogroup ministers elected via video conference Paschal Donohoe, Ireland's Minister of Finance as their new president. Luxembourg's Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna had been one of three candidates, alongside Minister Paschal Donohoe and Spain's Minister for the Economy Nadia Calvino, hoping to succeed outgoing president Mario Centeno, whose mandate ends on 12 July 2020.

Minister Pierre Gramegna commented: "I would like to warmly congratulate Paschal Donohoe on his election to the presidency of the Eurogroup and I wish him much success. I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role. The campaign for the succession of Mario Centeno has shown that the Eurogroup is an essential and fundamental body in European architecture. Through my candidacy, I wanted to broaden the debate on future topics and ensure that all points of view are heard, in the spirit of bringing more convergence and contributing to consensus at a crucial moment for Europe. The president's role will be to find solutions that will put us all on the right track and allow us to move forward in the agreement”.

The Eurogroup is an informal body within which the nineteen ministers of the Member States of the euro area jointly examine and decide on the strategies and policies of the area. Its main task is to ensure close coordination of economic policies between the Member States and to foster the conditions for stronger economic growth. Coordination of policies between euro area countries is considered essential for stability across the euro area and for the vitality of the single market.