Portugal is withdrawing the candidacy of the former ruler to the general direction of the European institution in order not to harm the succession process of Klaus Regling.
Former finance minister João Leão will not be the next director-general of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). The Ministry of Finance announced this Tuesday morning, in a statement, that the Portuguese candidacy was withdrawn by “common agreement in the interest of the institution” based in Luxembourg. Luxembourg also withdrew the candidacy of former finance minister Pierre Gramegna.
Leão and Gramegna were the names that were in the final stretch of the race for the leadership of the ESM. The Portuguese government justifies the withdrawal of the candidacy with the lack of consensus among the eurozone countries.
