With top Cabinet positions within the Coalition Government set to switch next month, Paschal Donohoe’s role as Eurogroup president has created somewhat of a conundrum, writes tconnellyRTE
With the coalition Government poised to switch top Cabinet positions in December, the delicate question of Paschal Donohoe's role as president of the Eurogroup will be on the agenda of next Monday’s meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels.
That means the position of president would not automatically go to McGrath when he takes over as finance minister. That means there has been a question mark over Donohoe’s ability to seek a second term, when his mandate is up in December. It has been clear that Fianna Fáil expects the switch in roles to be honoured, and that McGrath fully expects to be seated at the eurogroup table.
Before the issue of the coalition deal entered the frame it was seen as unlikely that Donohoe would be challenged. "There's a lot of appreciation of what he's doing and how he's doing it," says a senior EU official."It's his willingness to spend time and energy on issues. Also, he's even handed. He is an Irishman who is a very sympathetic person. He is highly respected. So most would want him to stay.
Donohoe is seen as having handled the extremely challenging agenda well. Ireland’s travails over a global corporate tax agreement do not appear to have complicated his role, with one senior official pointing out that he assiduously reminded his audience that he was speaking as Ireland’s Minister for Finance - and not Eurogroup president - when addressing the corporate tax issue.
Indeed, the role of Eurogroup president is more about managing problems than lifting trophies. A senior official described the role as one of managing chaos and the avoidance of failure. In 2018, when the Dutch government fell, finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem was allowed to serve out the final four months of his second term as Eurogroup president.He was the first full-time president of the Eurogroup from 2006 until 2013 at a time when he was also prime minister of Luxembourg. His finance minister also sat at the eurogroup table.
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