Eerste vrouwelijke lid directie ECB ook door EP goedgekeurd (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Europees Parlement (EP) i, gepubliceerd op donderdag 16 januari 2014.

MEPs on Thursday approved the appointment of Sabine Lautenschläger to the European Central Bank's Executive Board, replacing fellow German Jörg Asmussen.

This follows a campaign by the European Parliament in 2012 for the appointment of a woman to the all-male ECB board.

Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee Chair Sharon Bowles i (ALDE, UK), who spearheaded the campaign, commented:

"I would like to congratulate Sabine Lautenschläger on her new post. The appointment of a well-qualified and highly experienced woman to the ECB board is long overdue. We still have a long way to go to achieve gender equality in the banking sector, but the Parliament's insistence on more female candidates is clearly delivering results. It is not the case that there is a shortage of suitable women, as quite clearly demonstrated."

"We must keep up the pressure on all EU institutions to lead by example when it comes to promoting equal opportunities for men and women", she added.

Competent candidate

On Monday the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee gave its overwhelming support to Ms Lautenschläger's candidature, welcoming her strong credentials.

The committee quizzed Ms Lautenschläger about the ECB's “non-standard measures”, improving access to credit for firms in EU periphery countries, and banking union.