The new president of the Bundesbank is facing a difficult election in the future

Good morning and welcome to Europe Express.

We begin with the sad news: David Sassoli, president of the European Parliament, died in a hospital in his home country of Italy overnight. A 65-year-old man was released on December 26 after a “defective immune system”, his spokesman said yesterday.

The Socialist term in office ended this month after two-and-a-half years in a power-sharing agreement with the central right-wing European People’s Party. Expect respect from the political parties today.

Frans Timmermans, Vice President of the European Commission, wrote: “David Sassoli, President of the EP and best friend, has passed away. I am speechless. His kindness was an encouragement to all who knew him. Addo amico mio. “

We will have more on FT.com later and tomorrow Europe Express.

Meanwhile in Frankfurt, a small replacement ceremony with major implications for the eurozone is taking place today, with Jens Weidmann handing his staff to a former colleague from Bundesbank, Joachim Nagel. We will see these two people and the challenges Nagel faces.

In other central banking issues, outside the eurozone, we are investigating why the NATO monarch came out Jens Stoltenberg he finds himself in the middle of a storm when he wants to find a way to switch to Norges Bank in October when his security period expires.

And ahead of Brexit, a new UK diplomat and foreign secretary Liz Truss has a job to offer him as a Conservatives ally. Northern Ireland, DUP, is drying up their responsibilities before the May election.

No more Mr Nein

Jens Weidmann will kneel as President of the Bundesbank today with a final warning of the dangers of “economic domination” in the eurozone as he hands over the leadership of Germany’s largest bank to Joachim Nagel, he writes. Martin Arnold in Frankfurt.

The risk that government debt has risen sharply in the coronavirus epidemic so much so that the European Central Bank may find it politically impossible to raise interest rates to curb rising inflation is one of the hot topics waiting in the Nagel tray.

They will also face concerns over Germany’s 30-year-old inflation rate of 6 percent, as the growing number of online restrictions on the country’s largest manufacturing industry and coronavirus restrictions mean the economy is on the verge of collapse.

Nagel, a 55-year-old former senior banker for Bank for International Settlements, worked for Bundesbank for 17 years before leaving in 2016 and was appointed by the new German government to take over Weidmann’s tenure after ten years in office.

The responsibility – to run an organization with more than 10,000 employees and € 2.5tn – is unusual because the Bundesbank has relinquished most of its monetary power when the ECB was formed more than 20 years ago.

However, as president of the Bundesbank, Nagel is a member of the 25-member ECB’s governing body and, as the representative of the eurozone’s largest economy, will play a key role in implementing ECB policies.

At the “real ceremony” today, Weidmann welcomed Nagel to the job and warned him to take care of the financial system that is being pursued by the financial system. This has been one of the concerns of Bundesbank executives as buying bonds from the ECB has kept borrowing rates even lower while government debt has risen sharply.

Nagel, who has previously expressed similar fears, may also be concerned that Germany is withdrawing from a major debate on how to change EU economic policies after French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi wrote in the Financial Times. story calling for reforms to encourage businesses and drive long-term growth.

ECB President Christine Lagarde also spoke at today’s event and should be generous in thanking Weidmann for his contribution to the drafting process, as he welcomes Nagel to the competition.

Lagarde may not see eye to eye with Weidmann on many matters, but he seems to be building a much better relationship than he had with his predecessor, Draghi, whom he called German. not to anything – there is nothing.

Nagel’s moment of excitement will not be long before he decides where to stand on the issue of how the ECB can lift its stance on inflation and whether Germany should be brave enough to reform EU economic policies.

Norwegian elections

This could be a big week for Jens Stoltenberg: He is not the only NATO secretary general to catch talks with Russia over the prospect of another conflict in Ukraine, but Stoltenberg could find out over the weekend whether he has a new job or not, he writes. Richard Milne, Nordic and Baltic Journalist.

The former Norwegian Prime Minister is one of two candidates for the post of central bank governor in Scandinavia with a statement to be made on Friday. His term as NATO chief expires in October.

Stoltenberg’s ability to return to Oslo on a high-profile economic career in the country has caused a great deal of political turmoil, especially among his right-wing opponents. Stoltenberg is a close ally of Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who has stopped talking about the ambassador.

Siv Jensen, a former finance minister and former leader of the Populist Progress party, recently warned that hiring a large bank to work for the richest man in politics was a “grave threat” to Norway’s reputation and credibility.

Instead, he and the others in the middle right are push the appointment of Ida Wolden Bache, the deputy prime minister who could be the first woman in the post if confirmed.

Bache’s ally, a former head of the finance department at Norges Bank, says his knowledge of financial matters is incredible. But those pushing for Stoltenberg, a former finance minister with a degree in finance, are emphasizing his suitability for another important governor’s job: overseeing $ 1.4tn. oil bag, the largest fund in the world.

As a result it was ironic that the Aftenposten newspaper on Sunday revealed that Stoltenberg had twice talked to the ambassador with Nicolai Tangen, a former hedge fund manager who now runs the fund. Tangen told his colleagues that he did not see any problem with Stoltenberg taking the job.

However, political tactics in Norway can be more difficult to navigate than in the case of Nato-Russia issues.

Daily chart: Brexit results

A year after Brexit, banks and officials said that instead of a major shift in economic activity from the UK to the EU that some predicted, the City of London is slowly enduring a puncture that will take years or years to play. outside. (More here)

Trouble for Truss

Finding a trade agreement after Brexit in Northern Ireland will be difficult for Liz Truss. Findings that would please the Democratic Unionist party as the region prepares for general elections on May 5 could be very long, he wrote. Jude Webber in Dublin.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who is fighting to beat Irish Republican Singers Féin and keep the DUP under the control of the region’s top power-maker, initially spoke favorably after a UK foreign secretary wrote in a statement. newspaper article that London demanded “no checks or transcripts of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland”.

But after a meeting with Truss, Donaldson wanted to process for the UK to meet its larger requirements relating to the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol. “We have informed the government that we will not be following the Protocol process,” he said.

This is based on what organizations are trying to do to test the veto protocol such as Edwin Poots, Minister of Agriculture and former DUP leader. Under the Friday, 1998 peace agreement and its enactment of laws, support for the various parties is essential to major elections.

But what Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called DUP’s Narrow electoral positioning it may be political because the EU Withdrawal Agreement is more powerful than domestic legislation.

In any case, Northern Ireland’s politics will not facilitate Truss’s negotiations when he meets with his EU counterpart, Maros Sefcovic, in Thursday and Friday’s talks at the Kent Foreign Office. (Read more Pano.)

To see today

1. Finance ministers from Lithuania and Taiwan have held a joint online conference

2. French President Emmanuel Macron meets with European Council President Charles Michel to discuss what needs to guide the EU president

Known, Clear

If Russia deviates from the diplomatic mission, it will be clear that she did not intend to pursue negotiations.

• To be continued: Russia and the US happened negotiations in Geneva about eight hours yesterday which ended without success, and without damage. Russia has also warned of a war against Ukraine if its red flags are not met.

• Tech lobby: Google is making a final effort to reduce the upcoming EU policy on Big Tech with a lot of commercials, emails and documents that are monitored by politicians and officials in Brussels, such as the company. fear that the Act will affect its principles.

• Dutch explosion: The Dutch government has expressed outrage at Berlin’s request for the Netherlands to increase its gas emissions and give Germany more gas when the Green group in Berlin banned any expansion of German gasfields in the North Sea, he writes Handelsblatt.

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