EU aims to crown Lagarde's ECB successor before December

Eurozone finance ministers kicked off talks Monday on who takes over the European Central Bank, with Eurogroup chief Kyriakos Pierrakakis setting a hard target: wrap it up before the year ends. Two names are on the table — Klaas Knot, who used to run the Dutch central bank, and Pablo Hernandez de Cos, now head of the Bank for International Settlements. They would succeed Christine Lagarde, who said last month she leaves in February.

Pierrakakis, speaking before the Eurogroup meeting, said the Dutch and Spanish ministers would formally put their candidates forward. He planned to meet Antonio Costa, who chairs the European Council, later the same day. The final call belongs to EU leaders, acting on a recommendation from the euro area's finance ministers. His words on timing: the ambition is for the whole process to complete itself by the end of the year.

One seat isn't the whole fight. ECB executive board member Isabel Schnabel and chief economist Philip Lane are also due to be replaced, and the expectation in Brussels is a single package deal covering all three jobs. Pierrakakis allowed that bundling the decisions might smooth the path, but stressed it is the leaders who decide.

Both camps wasted no time talking up their picks. Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo called Hernandez de Cos the right person for the job, praising his decades of experience and saying he knows the ECB inside out after running the Bank of Spain and the BIS — a steady hand who can find consensus. Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen shot back that Knot is an excellent candidate, with a clear grasp of the ECB's mandate and the experience to match.

Speed is on everyone's mind. Irish Finance Minister Simon Harris, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, wants Lagarde's replacement settled by December, arguing it makes sense to fill the vacancy as fast as possible. He added the caveat that it's also about getting it right, calling it a really crucial appointment.