By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Euro area finance ministers on Monday agreed to back Croatian National Bank Governor Boris Vujčić to succeed European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos, according to people familiar with the decision.

“I am pleased to report that we had an agreement on both the process and the person,” said Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis at a press conference announcing the decision. “And I would say that this is a very important success: a sign of institutional maturity on the background of an exceptional number of candidates and past experiences, such as the one in 2012 where it took six months before consensus was found.”

“I would like to congratulate Boris Vujčić,” he continued. “I would also like to highlight the skills and the expertise of all the candidates and to thank them for their interest and their commitment.”

The selection in the Eurogroup, which meets in informal format, is the key political step ahead of the formal recommendation that must be adopted by euro area member states in the Council of the EU.

Ministers reached their conclusion after discussions on the six candidacies and a process aimed at converging on a single name capable of assembling a sufficiently broad coalition.

The Council, meeting in the ECOFIN format with only euro area finance ministers participating in the vote, is due to adopt the recommendation to the European Council by a reinforced qualified majority of the euro area member states.

That threshold requires support from at least 72% of euro area countries and at least 65% of the euro area population.

EU leaders in the European Council are to take the final decision after consultations with the European Parliament and the ECB, neither of which has a veto.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs held informal exchanges of views with the candidates last week and later indicated preferences of its own for Portugal's Mário Centeno and Latvia's Mārtiņš Kazāks, though that signal is not binding on governments.

The contest drew a field of six: in addition to Vujčić, Centeno and Kazāks, contenders included Estonia’s Madis Müller, Finland’s Olli Rehn and Lithuania’s Rimantas Šadžius.

De Guindos’ mandate expires at the end of May 2026.