Frontrunners include two former central bankers: Pablo Hernández de Cos, governor of the Bank of Spain from 2008 to 2014, and Klaas Knot, president of the Dutch central bank from 2011 to 2025. That is the result of a survey conducted by the Financial Times amongst European economists.

There is also strong interest from Germany in securing the post, which it has not held since 1998. Joachim Nagel, president of the Bundesbank, and Isabel Schnabel, a member of the ECB's Executive Board, have both said they are interested.

However, that scenario appears unlikely, as Germany already holds the presidency of the European Commission until 2029. There is, however, a scenario that the Financial Times mentioned in December, in which Ursula Von der Leyen would succeed Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's current president, in early 2027.

However, the most likely outcome is that the ECB presidency will elude both Germany and France (which has already held the post twice, with Jean-Claude Trichet and then Christine Lagarde). This comes as countries in Central and Eastern Europe are pushing to secure a seat on the ECB's Executive Board.

In fact, it is not only the ECB presidency that is at stake. Four of the six members of the Executive Board will see their terms expire by the end of 2027: Luis de Guindos (May 2026), Philipp Lane (May 2027), Christine Lagarde (October 2027) and Isabel Schnabel (December 2027).

These eight-year terms are non-renewable. This means that Isabel Schnabel cannot, in theory, succeed Christine Lagarde.

At this stage, while the battle is clearly underway, everything remains open. These appointments are the result of lengthy negotiations among the heads of state and government of the euro zone member countries. And compromises often bring forward figures who were not necessarily among the favourites, as was the case with Christine Lagarde in 2019.

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/the-battle-for-europe-s-highest-paid-job-ce7e59ddda8cf624