Ireland’s Donohoe re-elected Eurogroup president

Ireland's Paschal Donohoe was re-elected as president of the Eurogroup on Monday, just hours after Spain’s Carlos Cuerpo and Lithuania’s Rimantas Šadžius pulled out of the race to lead the powerful group of eurozone ministers.

The Irishman, who hails from the same centre-right European People’s Party political family as European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, secured all twenty votes from the single currency area’s finance ministers, three diplomats said. He will now lead the group for a third two-and-a-half year term.

Cuerpo and Šadžius, both socialists, had withdrawn their candidacies after failing to garner sufficient support from other member states.

In a statement, Donohoe pledged to be "a genuine and honest broker" who will ensure that "all voices and positions are taken into account".

"It will be my task to further strengthen our common currency area and facilitate tangible progress on our key work streams during this next mandate – from budgetary coordination to the Capital Markets Union, and from the digital euro to the Banking Union," he added.

Established in 1997, the Eurogroup played a critical role in determining economic policy during the eurozone crisis in the 2010s, although its influence has faded somewhat in recent years as the bloc's economic fortunes have largely improved.

The group typically meets once a month, usually in Brussels, on the eve of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, which includes economy and finance ministers from all 27 EU member states.

(vib)

UPDATE: Updated to include confirmation of diplomats and quotes from Donohoe.