Dijsselbloem elected to succeed Juncker as Eurogroup president
JEROEN Dijsselbloem, Dutch finance minister, will succeed his Luxembourger counterpart Jean-Claude Juncker as Eurogroup president, after a vote yesterday.
The 17 Eurozone finance ministers chose the widely-tipped 46-year-old after they managed to convince French delegate Pierre Moscovici, seen as the only member with misgivings about the appointment.
The Netherlander, in only his 12th week of his current role, will take over from Eurozone stalwart Juncker, who has chaired the group for eight years.
Dijsselbloem indicated he wanted to expand the role from being mainly focused on crisis-resolution to more of a long-term focus on growth and prosperity.
This came in a meeting where Eurozone financial ministers revealed that Cyprus will have to wait until at least March to get the €17bn bailout package they seek from their lenders.
Negotiations surrounding the aid were still ongoing, according to Jean- Claude Juncker, currently president of the Eurogroup of financial ministers.
“We will wait for the troika report,” Juncker said, referring to the group of lenders made up of the European Central Bank, the EU and the IMF.
“I don’t think that we will come to a decision on Cyprus in a short time. I also don’t think that’s necessary.”