Europäische Zentralbank: Lagarde geht vorzeitig im Februar - Poker um EZB-Spitze

Christine Lagarde will step down early from her role as President of the European Central Bank (ECB) on February 7, 2027, according to the ECB. She informed the ECB council and the President of the European Council, António Costa, about her decision. Regularly, Lagarde's term would have ended by October 2027. Now, the 21 Eurozone heads of state and government need to decide on the successor to the Frenchwoman.

Lagarde's departure allows French President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) to clarify the appointment of a new figure for one of Europe's most important top positions before the French elections in April 2027. Her resignation is not unexpected, as rumors of an early departure have been circulating for some time.

The "Financial Times" reported in February 2026 that Lagarde intended to step down before the French presidential election in April 2027. This concern stems from fears that euro-skeptical legal populists, such as Marine Le Pen, might win the election and complicate the replacement of the ECB's top position in the second-largest Eurozone economy.

Lagarde confirmed in an interview in September that she had been considering leaving the ECB "a few months" earlier. The German Bundesbank President, Joachim Nagel, was also in contention for the Lagarde successor. However, Germany has never held the ECB's top position in its more than 25-year history. Other favorites to succeed Lagarde are the former Dutch Central Bank chief Klaas Knot and Spanish Bank for International Settlements (BIS) chief Pablo Hernández de Cos.

Isabel Schnabel, the ECB Director, who had also expressed interest in Lagarde's successor, will move to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington at the beginning of January 2027, leaving her position in the six-member ECB Executive Board soon vacant. A new head of economics will be needed in the ECB by June 2027, as the term of Philip R. Lane will end then.

Overall, it seems likely that a whole personnel package will be negotiated on a European level. Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil recently emphasized Germany's continued role in the ECB Executive Board. The main obstacle for a German at the ECB's top position is that the European Commission is already led by a German: Ursula von der Leyen.

Having two Germans in the top positions of such important institutions in Europe would be challenging to achieve in the Brussels personnel poker.