Paris (AFP)
They had given themselves until the end of July to nominate their candidate for the succession of Christine Lagarde to the IMF: the European governments have not succeeded, at the risk of feeding the ambitions of emerging countries that have been claiming the post for years.
"At this stage, although some candidates gather more support than others, there is still no complete consensus around a name," said Thursday the French Ministry of Finance.
Two weeks ago, at the G7 Finance meeting in Chantilly (Oise), north of Paris, the French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire was instructed by his European colleagues to lead the discussions to appoint before the end of July the successor to Lagarde, who will take over the presidency of the European Central Bank (ECB) in the autumn.
Five candidates are in the running: two from the South, the Spanish Finance Minister Nadia Calvino and her Portuguese counterpart Mario Centeno, also Eurogroup President, two from the North, the Dutchman Jeroen Dijsselbloem and the governor of the bank. Finland Olli Rehn, as well as a candidate from Eastern Europe, Bulgarian Kristalina Georgieva, current number 2 of the World Bank.
The candidate selected by the EU has until September 6 to register with the institution that will choose its new director general by October 4.
The Mayor has multiplied the conversations in recent days with "all his European counterparts", especially the German Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz, to reach an agreement.
He also organized a conference call with them in the afternoon to inform them of the results of the broad consultations he had conducted, with the aim of agreeing on the process of achieving a consensus around a single European candidate, "said Bercy.
"This situation reveals the divisions between the north and the south and the difficulties for the Europeans to agree and choose a solid candidate," regretted a source familiar with the issue, consulted by AFP.
The two candidates of the North are considered as "austere" by those of the South, which oppose for the moment to Mr. Rehn and especially to Mr. Dijsselbloem "which has the support of Germany", according to sources close folder.
The Dutchman, former president of the Eurogroup, would pay for his controversial remarks two years ago when he criticized the country of the South for squandering their money in "schnapps" and "women".
The Mediterranean candidates do not find favor either in the eyes of the northern countries, neither Mr. Centeno nor Ms. Calvino "who has been acting as Spanish Minister of Finance for too short a time," the sources said.
- Georgieva in the lead
Faced with this North-South opposition, Ms Georgieva's candidacy is "the one that is currently receiving the most support", but she is about to turn 66 and thus exceed the age limit set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"So the other member countries of the Fund should make an exception for it and it is not won," warned the sources.
To unblock the situation, ministers could be called to vote, they added. This is one of the options put on the table by Mr. Mayor during the conference call with his European counterparts.
A rare procedure within the EU that "would have the disadvantage of showing the rest of the world the contradiction of Europeans, unable to unite and nominate a high-level candidate", alerted one of the sources.
Other countries are closely following the process led by Europeans, particularly emerging countries, which have been calling for better representation in international institutions for years.
Since its creation in 1944, the IMF has always been led by a European while an American has always been appointed head of the World Bank.
According to sources, the emerging could launch into the race the boss of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Mexican Agustín Carstens, former chairman of the Monetary and Financial Committee of the IMF, or even his successor, Lesetja Kganyago, governor of the Central Bank South African.
© 2019 AFP