At the 22 January Eurogroup, I asked euro area members to send their nominations for candidates to replace Vítor Constâncio as ECB Vice-President after his term ends on 31 May.

I have received two names.

Ireland has proposed its central bank governor, Philip Lane, and Spain, its economy and competitiveness minister, Luis de Guindos. These are two excellent candidates and I welcome the initiative of both countries to make their nominations public. 

I look forward to our discussion at the next Eurogroup on 19 February which will pave the way for a formal recommendation to the European Council. 

The selection process will continue to be fully in line with Treaty provisions, and will be conducted in an open and transparent way based on the candidates put forward by member states. This will include opinions from both the European Parliament the European Central Bank. 

The Eurogroup meeting of 19 February will consider and discuss the applications. On the following day, the Ecofin Council, by reinforced qualified majority voting of the euro area members, will formally adopt a recommendation to the European Council.

Such majority requires 72% of euro area members in favour (i.e., at least 14 out of the 19), representing at least 65% of the population of the euro area.

On 22 March, after consulting with the ECB and European Parliament, the European Council will take its final decision.

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On 22 January 2018 the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2018/89^[1]. amending Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/849.

The Decision amends the list of persons and entities subject to restrictive measures as set out in Annex III to Decision (CFSP) 2016/849 by adding seventeen persons to the Annex.

The Candidate Countries the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Serbia* and Albania*, the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Armenia, align themselves with this Council Decision.

They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision.

The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it.

^[1] Published on 22.01.2018 in the Official Journal of the European Union L 16 I/9

*The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and  Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

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Under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) CCPs have to put in place organisational arrangements and policies to prevent potential conflicts of interest and to solve them if the preventive measures are not sufficient. The final guidelines were developed following a public consultation in June 2017.

In order to ensure a level playing field across the European Union (EU), ESMA decided to develop guidance on CCPs management of conflicts of interests, in order to:

• clarify how CCPs should prevent or mitigate the risks of conflicts of interest; and
• ensure a consistent implementation across CCPs.

ESMA’s guidelines provide details on circumstances where conflicts of interests could arise and specifies the corresponding organisational arrangements and procedures to be set-up including in the case when a CCP is part of a group structure.

Next steps

The guidelines will be translated into the official languages of the EU and published on the ESMA website. Within two months of the publication of the translations, each national Competent Authority (NCA) will have to confirm whether or not it intends to comply with the guidelines.