Mário Centeno starts mandate as Eurogroup President
Mário Centeno i will tomorrow start his mandate as Eurogroup i President, taking over from Jeroen Dijsselbloem i who served in the position since 2013. Euro area finance ministers elected Mr Centeno Eurogroup President on 4 December 2017, for a term of two and a half years.
Mr Centeno said: “I am highly motivated to take on the helm of the Eurogroup. We have a unique window of opportunity to deepen monetary union, making our common currency more resilient against future crises. Our responsibility is to deliver and meet the expectations of our citizens. I will spare no efforts to bring about the necessary consensus. I would also like to thank Jeroen Dijsselbloem for his strong leadership in the Eurogroup in a period where the euro area was put to the test”.
Mr Dijsselbloem said: “The eurozone is in much better shape now than in 2013. We have economic growth in all countries, unemployment is falling and public finances are on a sounder footing. Decisive steps have been taken to strengthen the monetary union, notably the banking union. I would like to wish Mário Centeno all the best in his new role as Eurogroup President.”
To mark the handover of the Eurogroup Presidency and complete the transition of tasks, Mr Dijsselbloem and Mr Centeno had a working meeting where they also discussed the Eurogroup agenda.
Mário Centeno is finance minister of Portugal, a position he was appointed to in 2015. The first Eurogroup meeting under the presidency of Mr Centeno will take place in Brussels on 22 January 2018.
About the Eurogroup
The Eurogroup is an informal body in which the ministers from euro area member states discuss matters related to their countries' common responsibilities with regard to the euro. Its main task is to ensure close coordination of economic policies among euro area member states and promote conditions for stronger economic growth. Policy coordination among euro area countries is crucial for ensuring stability in the euro area as a whole. The Eurogroup's role was set out in Protocol No 14 to the Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force on 1 December 2009.