Frank Elderson recommended as member of European Central Bank Executive Board
On Tuesday, Frank Elderson from the Netherlands received Parliament’s green light to sit on the ECB’s Executive Board, despite misgivings about gender imbalance.
The plenary voted by 319 votes in favour, 202 against and 171 abstentions to give its approval to Mr Elderson, following a hearing two weeks before in the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee where he received a positive recommendation.
Mr Elderson’s appointment now needs to be formalised by the European Council. He is due to take over from Yves Mersch on 14 December when the latter’s term of office ends.
Notwithstanding the positive opinion on Mr Elderson, Parliament has repeatedly expressed its disaffection regarding the appointment procedure for members of the ECB’s Executive Board. MEPs have called for better procedures in this regard – including that they be sent a gender-balanced shortlist of at least two candidates. They also deplore the fact that member states have not taken this request seriously and call on national and EU institutions to work actively towards achieving gender balance in the next nominations.