Europe's Choice
July 13, 2007
"Ecofin agrees to support Dominique Strauss-Kahn for IMF director," the presidency said, using EU shorthand for the meeting of finance ministers in Brussels Tuesday.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a conservative, had named Strauss-Kahn, a Social Democrat, who failed to win his party's presidential nomination in the 2007 election, as his favorite candidate. Strauss-Kahn served as French finance minister in the past.
The nomination means that Strauss-Kahn is likely to get the job since under an informal agreement, Europe chooses the head of the IMF while the US picks the leader of the World Bank.
In a surprise announcement late last month, current IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato said that he would step down in October.
Respected candidate
Strauss-Kahn, 58, is a respected advocate of social democratic economics.
Germany and the Netherlands said Strauss-Kahn was suited for the job, but added that other candidates existed as well.
Poland proposed its own candidate, Marek Belka, a left-leaning economist who twice served as Poland's finance minister and prime minister in 2004-2005.
British Finance Minister Alistair Darling, however, said the position should not just be open to Europeans, but to to candidates from other parts of the
world.
"We think there needs to be an opportunity for all members of the IMF to make their own assessment as to individual candidates ... and then, of course, pick the best candidate for the job," he told reporters.
Developing nations, for their part, are challenging assumptions that Europeans and Americans should divvy up top jobs in global finance.
They argue that the structure no longer reflects the balance of economic power since the rise of China and other countries.
Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos said the post should be open to all but Europe should not give up its claims.
"If we have a good European candidate, we should go for it," he said.
Last week, the United States indicated it would not challenge Europe's claim on the IMF leader role since it had just picked American Robert Zoellick for the top World Bank job.