Spanish minister Cuerpo builds case for Madrid's candidate to replace Lagarde at the ECB

Minister, thank you so much for joining us. First of all, Christine Lagarde will be leaving this job next February, almost nine months before the scheduled date. Is that a smart decision in a context of geopolitical complexities and tariffs? Is that a good decision? Well first off let me thank President Lagarde for all the work that she's put over the years and we have to be clear that she managed to really steer the course of the ECB through very difficult times with the pandemic, two big energy crises that have had an impact on on prices and and also somehow keeping a forward-looking Steering, thinking of important projects such as the Digital Euro, for example, amongst others. And all the while steady also and sound financial system in the Eurozone. So somehow I think the credibility of the ECB is one of the key assets that she was able to maintain. Now it's time to think about her successor. And this is also why we're here today. I will be presenting the candidacy of Pablo Hernández de Cos. To succeed, Christine, and let's hope that we can have success. We'll talk about your candidate in a minute, but it seems to me she's leaving now because of the French election and Marine Le Pen. There's a real concern about what a Le Pen presidency will look like. Is it fair, if that was the motivation to leave early, it's for the better good, would you say? Well, I think at this point what is important for the ECB is that we are able to manage the succession in a steady way and as fast as we can. So the leaders have to take a decision on who will be succeeding President Lagarde. So let's hope that we can manage this decision process as fast as we can to give also this signal of stability at the head of the ECB, which is, I think, what markets are expecting as well. You put forward a candidate who's the former Spanish central banker. He was also an economist, also working now internationally. What makes you think Spain can get a job it has never had? I think it's the right window of opportunity for Spain, not only because the way that we've been leading some of the important discussions at the European and the EU level, also looking at the performance of the Spanish economy, but mainly because I think we have the right candidate. Pablo not only has been in the central bank world for almost 30 years, he's been leading, as you said, the Spanish central bank, but also the BIS. He has a steady hand, a strong background in economics, and also, of course, a man who is able to gather consensus, which is very important at the head of an institution like the ECB. Some would argue the problem with the Spanish is that they are pro-debt, more joint debt, and perhaps not as fiscally conservative as others would like to see around the governing council. Is that going to be a problem? Well, the Spanish are very fiscally responsible. You just have to look at what has happened over the past few years with the Spanish fundamentals. And the reduction in our debt-to-GDP ratio by more than 22 percentage points, strong confidence from the markets, from investors in the Spanish economy, that's what we are putting forward as well. You're putting forward a candidacy in the midst of an election campaign. You may not be in government in just a few months. Is that not going to penalize this process? Well, I think and I hope that what we are presenting is a Spanish candidate, not a governmental candidate. It's a candidate that has consensus also throughout the different parties in Spain. But you have to lobby for it too, and the Prime Minister is not going to show up at a European Council this week either. How are you pushing for your guy? Well, we've been lobbying for the past few months already very heavily, both at the Prime Minister level and also myself, trying to also... Push and make everyone understand that this is the right man at this point to lead the ECB. He's the right person. So let's hope that the rest of the colleagues will also see it this way. And somehow it's for the leaders also to come to an agreement and to decide. And lastly, the election is now well underway. The campaign is well underway. You have an economy that outperforms your peers. And yet it seems you're going to be voted out of office. There's two weeks left. Is there anything you can do? Well, you have to look at the latest polls where you see that actually somehow there is a good trend in terms of not only the left but especially the Socialist Party recovering part of the gap that we had over the course of the past few months. So somehow this is looking much better and I'm very optimistic around the fact that we can, as in 2023, somehow also recover. that gap and bridge it enough so that we can also renew the progressive governments going ahead. Well, somehow meant a bizarre coalition, and it also meant you could not approve a budget. But you're saying you see dynamics that could mean you can still edge it. You honestly believe that? There's a very positive dynamics that have been seen on the streets for the past few months, which is now showing in the polls already. So let's hope that this becomes also a reality after the elections.