Mario Draghi, governor of the Bank of Italy, has taken a big step towards succeeding Jean-Claude Trichet as head of the European Central Bank after being strongly endorsed by France’s Nicolas Sarkozy, acting with Germany’s tacit blessing.
“France will be very happy to support an Italian for the presidency of the ECB,” the French president said in Rome on Tuesday at a press conference with Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s centre-right prime minister. “I know Draghi well. We support him not because he is an Italian but because he is a man of quality.”
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, is also expected to approve Mr Draghi’s candidacy, according to well-placed officials in Berlin.
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