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EUROPEAN UNION

Weber reportedly out of running for ECB job

Germany's central bank chief Axel Weber is out of the running to be the next head of the European Central Bank as he is leaving to join Deutsche Bank, according to media reports on Wednesday.

Weber reportedly out of running for ECB job
Photo: DPA

Weber had been tipped as one of the most likely successors to Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet when he steps down in October.

But reports said Weber, who has irritated some European Union figures, was no longer “available” and that he would give up his Bundesbank position to join Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest private bank.

The ECB succession comes at a crucial time for the 17-nation eurozone as it works to regain the confidence of financial markets owing to debt crises in two member states, Greece and Ireland.

The Bundesbank declined to comment, and said “rumours” that it would release a statement later on Wednesday on Weber’s future were untrue. Deutsche Bank also refused to comment.

Speculation swelled further when the spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, Steffen Seibert, said she and Weber had “a telephone conversation” Wednesday morning, the subject of which was “confidential.”

A source close to the German central bank told news agency AFP Weber had just “signalled to those close to him that he would not necessarily seek a second mandate as head of the Bundesbank. “He sees no reason to express himself personally,” on the subject, the source said.

The reports sent the euro briefly lower against the dollar on Wednesday, and the Frankfurt stock exchange’s DAX index gave up early gains in midday trading.

Barclays Capital economist Julian Callow said that regardless of who was finally named to head the ECB, “we would not envisage a significant change in its strategy or reaction function.

“Indeed, the lesson of the ECB’s history so far is that while the personnel may change, the institution has stuck firmly to its clearly-defined mandate” of ensuring that eurozone inflation was held below but close to two percent.

Weber has rankled several EU chiefs, who are due to select the next ECB president in the coming months, with comments criticising the bank’s purchases of eurozone government debt.

In late October, the Bundesbank chief vowed to remain true to his principles even if it meant he were not chosen as the next head of the ECB.

“If that’s going to have implications for my future career, then I’d be happy to live with those consequences,” he told an event in Stuttgart, southwestern Germany.

Several alternative candidates have been mooted in recent weeks, including Luxembourg central bank head Yves Mersch, Finnish counterpart Erkki Liikanen, and Klaus Regling, the German head of the European Financial Stability Facility.

Another name floated initially as a front-runner was that of Italian central bank chief Mario Draghi.

But a key factor weighing against Draghi is that the ECB vice president is Vitor Constancio of Portugal, another southern country. European institutions often strive for geographical balance among its senior positions.

Meanwhile, a poll commissioned by the Financial Times this month found that a German candidate would have more support across the continent than any other.

Callow said: “If Mr Weber were to resign from the Bundesbank to a new role, then in our view this would significantly elevate the chances of Mr Regling to succeed Mr Trichet as ECB president.”

AFP/mry

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BREXIT

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

The EU has drawn up plans to make it easier for non-EU citizens to gain longterm EU residency so they can move more easily around the bloc, but Italy-based citizens' rights campaigner Clarissa Killwick says Brits who moved to the EU before Brexit are already losing out.

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

With all the talk about the EU long-term residency permit and the proposed improvements there is no mention that UK citizens who are Withdrawal Agreement “beneficiaries” are currently being left out in the cold.

The European Commission has stated that we can hold multiple statuses including the EU long-term permit (Under a little-known EU law, third-country nationals can in theory acquire EU-wide long-term resident status if they have lived ‘legally’ in an EU country for at least five years) but in reality it is just not happening.

This effectively leaves Brits locked into their host countries while other third country nationals can enjoy some mobility rights. As yet, in Italy, it is literally a question of the computer saying no if someone tries to apply.

The lack of access to the EU long-term permit to pre-Brexit Brits is an EU-wide issue and has been flagged up to the European Commission but progress is very slow.

READ ALSO: EU government settle on rules for how non-EU citizens could move around Europe

My guess is that few UK nationals who already have permanent residency status under the Withdrawal Agreement are even aware of the extra mobility rights they could have with the EU long-term residency permit – or do not even realise they are two different things.

Perhaps there won’t be very large numbers clamouring for it but it is nothing short of discrimination not to make it accessible to British people who’ve built their lives in the EU.

They may have lost their status as EU citizens but nothing has changed concerning the contributions they make, both economically and socially.

An example of how Withdrawal Agreement Brits in Italy are losing out

My son, who has lived almost his whole life here, wanted to study in the Netherlands to improve his employment prospects.

Dutch universities grant home fees rather than international fees to holders of an EU long-term permit. The difference in fees for a Master’s, for example, is an eye-watering €18,000. He went through the application process, collecting the requisite documents, making the payments and waited many months for an appointment at the “questura”, (local immigration office).

On the day, it took some persuading before they agreed he should be able to apply but then the whole thing was stymied because the national computer system would not accept a UK national. I am in no doubt, incidentally, that had he been successful he would have had to hand in his WA  “carta di soggiorno”.

This was back in February 2022 and nothing has budged since then. In the meantime, it is a question of pay up or give up for any students in the same boat as my son. There is, in fact, a very high take up of the EU long-term permit in Italy so my son’s non-EU contemporaries do not face this barrier.

Long-term permit: The EU’s plan to make freedom of movement easier for non- EU nationals 

Completing his studies was stalled by a year until finally his Italian citizenship came through after waiting over 5 years.  I also meet working adults in Italy with the EU long-term permit who use it for work purposes, such as in Belgium and Germany, and for family reunification.  

Withdrawal agreement card should double up as EU long-term residency permit

A statement that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries should be able to hold multiple statuses is not that easy to find. You have to scroll quite far down the page on the European Commission’s website to find a link to an explanatory document. It has been languishing there since March 2022 but so far not proved very useful.

It has been pointed out to the Commission that the document needs to be multilingual not just in English and “branded” as an official communication from the Commission so it can be used as a stand-alone. But having an official document you can wave at the immigration authorities is going to get you nowhere if Member State governments haven’t acknowledged that WA beneficiaries can hold multiple statuses and issue clear guidance and make sure systems are modified accordingly.

I can appreciate this is no mean feat in countries where they do not usually allow multiple statuses or, even if they do, issue more than one residency card. Of course, other statuses we should be able to hold are not confined to EU long-term residency, they should include the EU Blue Card, dual nationality, family member of an EU citizen…

Personally, I do think people should be up in arms about this. The UK and EU negotiated an agreement which not only removed our freedom of movement as EU citizens, it also failed to automatically give us equal mobility rights to other third country nationals. We are now neither one thing nor the other.

It would seem the only favour the Withdrawal Agreement did us was we didn’t have to go out and come back in again! Brits who follow us, fortunate enough to get a visa, may well pip us at the post being able to apply for EU long-term residency as clearly defined non-EU citizens.

I have been bringing this issue to the attention of the embassy in Rome, FCDO and the European Commission for three years now. I hope we will see some movement soon.

Finally, there should be no dragging of heels assuming we will all take citizenship of our host countries. Actually, we shouldn’t have to, my son was fortunate, even though it took a long time. Others may not meet the requirements or wish to give up their UK citizenship in countries which do not permit dual nationality.  

Bureaucratic challenges may seem almost insurmountable but why not simply allow our Withdrawal Agreement permanent card to double up as the EU long-term residency permit.

Clarissa Killwick,

Since 2016, Clarissa has been a citizens’ rights campaigner and advocate with the pan-European group, Brexpats – Hear Our Voice.
She is co-founder and co-admin of the FB group in Italy, Beyond Brexit – UK citizens in Italy.

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