BERLIN: A candidate for a top position at the European Central Bank, who was rejected by the European Parliament in a row over gender equality, won backing from Germany on Friday.
A German government source, who insisted on anonymity, told AFP that Berlin "sees no reason to question the decision" of European finance ministers, who proposed Yves Mersch to fill a vacant spot on the ECB's Executive Board.
Mersch, 63, currently head of the central bank of Luxembourg, has become embroiled in a row over gender balance at the ECB, one of Europe's most powerful institutions.
If he is appointed, all 23 members of the Governing Council of the ECB will be men, probably until at least 2018, prompting the European Parliament to slap down his appointment on Thursday by 325 votes to 300 with 49 abstentions.
A spokesman for German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble noted that "the vote of MEPs is a consultative vote. The ECOFIN has chosen the candidate who was the best for them," referring to European finance ministers.
The final word must now be taken by EU leaders, the spokesman said.
"The council will, as it should, take note of the opinion of the parliament and decide. We will see what the council decides," he added.
Thursday's vote went largely as expected and since parliament only has a right of consultation in such appointments, EU leaders can ignore it.
But it was still embarrassing given that EU President Herman Van Rompuy had pressed parliament hard to endorse Mersch after its economic affairs committee turned him down on Monday.
The last woman on the ECB board was Austria's Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell between 1998 and 2011, before she was replaced by Peter Praet of Belgium in preference to Slovakia's Elena Kohutikova.
Eurozone finance ministers nominated Mersch in July to replace Spain's Jose Manuel Gonzalez Paramo.
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