ECB Insight: Parliament Hearings Begin for Six Candidates to Succeed de Guindos

14 January 2026

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – With six candidacies to succeed European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos now formally established following the close of nominations last Friday, the appointment process is moving into its next phase.

Today, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) will hold hearings in Brussels with the candidates, with each contender expected to receive 30 minutes to make his case.

The field comprises Portugal’s Mário Centeno, Latvia’s Mārtiņš Kazāks, Estonia’s Madis Müller, Finland’s Olli Rehn, Lithuania’s Rimantas Šadžius and Croatia’s Boris Vujčić.

Candidates appear to have been notified of the hearings at fairly short notice, so it cannot be entirely excluded that not every candidate will be able to appear, though Econostream has no specific reason to expect absences.

The outcome of the hearings will be transmitted to the Eurogroup on Friday.

The early parliamentary engagement represents a departure from the more typical cadence, in which euro area finance ministers first converge on a leading candidate and the formal consultations with the European Parliament and the ECB follow later, ahead of a final decision by EU leaders.

The next key waypoint is the Eurogroup meeting on Monday, January 19, when euro area finance ministers will discuss the six candidacies and are expected to narrow the field toward a preferred option.

That outcome would then be formalized in the Council of the EU, meeting in the ECOFIN format, with only euro area finance ministers participating in the vote, which is to adopt a recommendation to the European Council (EU leaders) by a reinforced qualified majority of the euro area member states—at least 72% of countries (currently at least 16 of 21) representing at least 65% of the euro area population.

In practice, such decisions can require multiple ballots. Voting next week will proceed, as for the Eurogroup presidency, in successive rounds, with the lowest-placed candidate after each round invited to withdraw before the next vote.

The relatively large number of contenders makes it less likely that anyone would secure the required majority at the first attempt, though this is not excluded.

The reinforced qualified majority requirement suits this fragmented field: it effectively forces a coalition broad enough to span a large share of member states and of the euro area population. It also means that alignment among the biggest capitals would not, by itself, settle the matter.

A reminder of how quickly arithmetic can upset expectations came in the 2020 Eurogroup presidency contest. Spain’s Nadia Calviño—backed by France, Germany and Italy—lost to Ireland’s Paschal Donohoe after a second round, illustrating how a numerically strong “big-country” coalition can still fail in a one-country-one-vote setting.

The final decision on de Guindos’ successor is due to be taken by the European Council in March, after consultations with the European Parliament and the ECB, neither of which has a veto. Still, any opinion from Parliament could carry political weight—particularly given that all six nominees are men, a circumstance likely to elicit criticism. De Guindos’ mandate expires at the end of May 2026.