FRANKFURT: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has tipped finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble to take over as head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, a newspaper reported on Friday.
The Financial Times Deutschland, quoting sources in Brussels and other European capitals, said that Merkel has been lobbying other government chiefs for Schaeuble, 69, to take over from Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker when he steps down in June.
Schaeuble was seen as having the best chances at the moment after other potential candidates such as Italian premier Mario Monti and Finnish prime minister Jyrki Katainen have turned the job down, the newspaper quoted the sources as saying.
But there was resistance in Paris, where President Nicolas Sarkozy was concerned that Germany's position would become too strong, it added.
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