FRANKFURT, April 1 - European Union finance ministers may ask Wim Duisenberg later this week to extend his stewardship of the European Central Bank when they are likely to discuss the composition of the ECB's powerful executive. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said late on Tuesday that he assumed the Greek European Union presidency would suggest extending Duisenberg's term in office. "I am in favour of extending Duisenberg's mandate and I start from the idea that the Greek presidency will make a proposal of that type," Juncker told on the sidelines of a news conference on the reform of the EU's institutions.
With heir apparent to the bank presidency Jean-Claude Trichet expecting a verdict in June in a court case probing a financial scandal, it may be the prudent step. Duisenberg is due to step down on his 68th birthday on July 9, which would give little time to make the appointment to arguably the world's second most powerful central banker's job. Uncertainty about the succession would worry investors, analysts said, urging a quick decision by policy makers. "Many investors would welcome the fact that clarity is created about who (would get the job) and when. In that respect it is a good thing if this happens very swiftly," said Thorsten Polleit, an economist at Barclays in Frankfurt.
A high-level Greek official told that most EU leaders wanted Duisenberg to stay at least until September, and diplomatic sources said that the succession issue would be discussed when finance ministers meet in Athens on Friday. A French government source on Monday also said it was "quite probable" that Duisenberg might serve some months longer. The ministers may also use the opportunity to discuss the succession of Finnish Executive Board member Sirkka Hamalainen, whose term ends on May 31. Belgium and Austria have both put forward a candidate to replace the only woman on the Board. Duisenberg chairs the ECB's Governing Council, which consists of the six members of the bank's Executive Board and the 12 euro zone national central bank governors. The council decides on interest rates once a month.//