<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Minister of Economy, Trade, and Enterprise, Carlos Cuerpo, asserted this Monday that it is still "very premature" to talk about his possible candidacy to preside over the Eurogroup, a position that, to date, has been a struggle for Spain.</strong></h4> "It is very premature to talk about candidacies for the Eurogroup presidency," Cuerpo declared in Brussels upon his arrival at the Eurogroup meeting. "We are in a moment of discussion about the main funding issues that affect the Eurogroup," such as "the international role of the euro or such important aspects as progress on banking union or capital markets union," he continued. Regarding whether it would be positive for Spain to have a Eurogroup president, Carlos Cuerpo responded that, "for Spain, what is important is that the Eurogroup be a decisive body." “We are redefining the role of the various international currencies at a geoeconomic and geostrategic level; that's where we have to push for a relevant role for the euro,” he added. As reported by the newspaper Político in mid-April, Carlos Cuerpo aims to convince the Eurozone countries to secure his election as Eurogroup president for a two-and-a-half-year term next July. To do so, he will have to challenge the current president, Irishman Paschal Donohoe, who has held the position since 2020 and is seeking a third consecutive term. Besides Cuerpo, Lithuanian Finance Minister Rimantas Šadžius could also be a candidate for the position. Candidacies will be officially submitted in June, and the vote will take place in July. The winner must obtain a simple majority, and several rounds of voting are planned if necessary. To obtain the position, Carlos Cuerpo will have to convince his counterparts from the 20 Eurogroup member states, nine of which belong to the European People's Party (EPP) and two others to far-right governments in Finland and Italy. Spain has already attempted to win the position twice. The two previous attempts were made by Luis de Guindos, former Economy Minister under Mariano Rajoy, in 2015, and by Nadia Calviño, Pedro Sánchez's first female Minister of Economic Affairs, who also failed in 2020, precisely to Donohoe. In return, de Guindos is the current Vice President of the European Central Bank (ECB), and Nadia Calviño is President of the European Investment Bank (EIB). Specifically, one of the main obstacles to the possible Cuerpo candidacy could be the presence of Calviño at the EIB and De Guindos at the ECB, in addition to José Manuel Campa as president of the European Banking Authority, since their appointment would grant Spain excessive influence in the EU's financial and economic institutions, which might not be welcomed by the rest of the countries. The Eurogroup presidency does not grant executive power, decision-making capacity, or a casting vote, but it does allow for control of the agenda and influence in the debates and the search for consensus.
