By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The German government is highly unlikely to nominate Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel to succeed Christine Lagarde as president of the European Central Bank, German financial daily Handelsblatt reported Friday, citing four people familiar with the matter.

According to the newspaper, officials in the Chancellor’s office see Nagel as having little prospect of securing the post, while reservations about him also exist within Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

One factor weighing against a German candidacy, Handelsblatt reported, is that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is already German, with officials in the Chancellor’s office viewing having Germans simultaneously hold two of the European Union’s most influential positions as difficult to secure politically.

Separate concerns within the CDU have centered on Nagel’s advocacy of jointly issued European debt, according to the report, while some government officials were also said to question whether his background in financial markets would leave him at a disadvantage against former Dutch central bank Governor Klaas Knot and Bank for International Settlements General Manager Pablo Hernández de Cos, who are both also considered contenders for the ECB presidency.

The Finance Ministry takes a different view, Handelsblatt reported, with officials there arguing that Germany should put Nagel forward and that Merz could improve his chances by lobbying other EU leaders on his behalf.

A separate scenario circulating in central banking circles would keep Germany represented at a senior level on the ECB Executive Board even without the presidency, according to the newspaper. Under that idea, Nagel could replace ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel, while Schnabel could succeed Nagel as Bundesbank president.

According to Handelsblatt, Germany’s Finance Ministry is also considering candidates for the positions expected to open when Schnabel and ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane leave. Names under discussion were said to include University of California, Berkeley economist and former German Council of Economic Experts member Ulrike Malmendier; former German Economy Ministry Chief Economist Elga Bartsch; Princeton University economist Markus Brunnermeier; Stanford University economist Monika Piazzesi; and former IMF Financial Counsellor Tobias Adrian.

For the chief economist position, Handelsblatt reported that French names under discussion include Banque de France Second Deputy Governor Agnès Bénassy-Quéré, former OECD Chief Economist Laurence Boone and Hélène Rey, who this month became Economic Adviser and head of the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements.

People around Nagel nevertheless regard suggestions that he is already out of contention as premature, according to Handelsblatt, while the newspaper said the Finance Ministry continued to press the case for giving him a chance.

The German government intends to settle its approach after Sunday’s state elections and wants to move quickly thereafter, Handelsblatt reported.