# Klaas Knot and Spain's candidate vie to lead the ECB

> Former Dutch central bank chief Klaas Knot and Spain's Pablo Hernández de Cos are the only two candidates to succeed Christine Lagarde at the bank that sets interest rates for the euro, with eurozone leaders due to decide by the end of the year.

Economy · published 2026-11-09 18:14 · https://nlnow.nl/a/klaas-knot-and-spain-s-candidate-vie-to-lead-the-ecb/

Klaas Knot, former president of De Nederlandsche Bank, and Spain's Pablo Hernández de Cos are the two candidates left to succeed Christine Lagarde as president of the European Central Bank. The window for eurozone countries to nominate candidates closed last Friday, and no other names came forward. The Netherlands and Spain each back their own candidate. Lagarde has announced she will leave the bank early, in February.

The decision lies with eurozone heads of government. They need a majority of 16 of the 21 eurozone countries, and those countries must together represent at least 65% of the population. Eurozone finance ministers, meeting as the Eurogroup, discussed the appointment on Monday in Brussels.

**What happens next**

1. This Friday: eurozone heads of government meet in Dublin
2. End of November: they meet in Brussels
3. Mid-December: they meet again in Brussels, with the appointment due by the end of the year

Knot was already part of the ECB's leadership during the euro crisis of 2011-2012, and then through the coronavirus pandemic and the high inflation of 2021-2022. The bank guards price stability and protects the euro, which has existed since 1999. In 2012, Lagarde's predecessor Mario Draghi pledged to do "whatever it takes" to save the currency, and the pressure on financial markets eased.

## Background

- **ECB (Europese Centrale Bank)**: The European Central Bank is the central bank of the euro area, the group of EU countries that use the euro. It sets monetary policy for those countries, with price stability as its main objective, and its president chairs its Governing Council. De Nederlandsche Bank is part of the euro system that works with the ECB.
- **Eurogroep**: The Eurogroup is the forum where the finance ministers of the euro area countries meet to discuss economic policy and matters that concern the euro. It has its own elected president and prepares and discusses coordination of economic and budgetary policy among euro countries. Its decisions are not binding in the way EU legislation is, but its views carry weight with the euro area governments.

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