From the pan to the grill because l'Italy could support the candidacy of Jens Weidmann, president of the Bundesbank, the German central bank, as president of the European Central Bank (ECB). This is what was declared by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Giovanni Tria, to the German newspaper “Die Welt”. In particular, Tria stated"They are open-minded, the decision should not depend too much on past events". The reference is to Weidmann's severe criticisms of Italy's economic policy on several occasions, in particular the excess of public spending that causes a constant increase in the country's debt. This was reported by the Italian agency Nova.
Regarding Weidmann's "ambitions" to succeed Mario Draghi, who has presided over the ECB since 2011 and will end his mandate next October, the Minister of Economy and Finance specified: "I do not want to go so far as to say that I support these ambitions, but I am open to them". However, the position of Tria towards the appointment of Weidmann as president of the ECB seems to clash with the position of the German government. Chancellor Angela Merkel, in fact, withdrew her support for the appointment of Weidmann as owner of the Eurotower to support that of Manfred Weber, exponent of the Christian-Social Union (CSU) and leader of the European People's Party (EPP), as president of the next European Commission. In addition, the European budget commissioner, the German Guenther Oettinger, expressed the hope that the future president of the ECB is "an intelligent Frenchman". The allusion may be to the current president of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Gallois.