Belgium's central bank is facing the prospect of being without a leader from the start of next year, a scenario which analysts say could tarnish Belgium's reputation as it prepares to assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from 1 January.
Pierre Wunsch has still not yet had his four-year term as head of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) renewed by the Federal Government even though his current governorship is set to expire at midnight on 1 January.
Bizarrely, the failure to renew the governorship, which is typically a formality, also comes in spite of the fact that "no one in the government opposes Wunsch's reappointment", according to an anonymous government source cited by L'Echo.
National Bank of Belgium Governor Pierre Wunsch. Credit: Belga / Jonas Roosens
De Tijd reports that it is now "expected" that Deputy Governor Steven Vanackere will be forced to step in as interim Governor "for several days or weeks". A spokesperson for the NBB has informed the same newspaper that the possibility of the bank beginning a new year without a leader is historically unprecedented and raises a host of political, financial, and technical difficulties.
"That is why we are now looking at the legal implications for the National Bank, for our role in the Eurosystem [the eurozone's monetary authority] and for our international obligations," the spokesperson said.
A monetary mix-up
The delay can be attributed to three main reasons.
The first is due to haggling between Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke of the Flemish socialist party Vooruit and other members of the "Vivaldi" coalition government over legislation concerning funding for hospital outpatients. De Tijd reports that this has left the Federal Government with no time to make a number of key appointments for the upcoming year – including, notably, Wunsch's re-appointment.
The second more complicated reason for the hold-up is political infighting between Vooruit's French-speaking sister party, Parti Socialiste (PS), and the Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V).
In particular, PS is reportedly incensed over the recent appointment of Filip Van de Velde, the former chief of staff of Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V), as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Finance Ministry over the PS's preferred candidate, Arnaud Vajda. This, in turn, has led PS to block the appointment of other crucial policy positions, including the role of NBB chief.
Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem. Credit: Belga / James Arthur Gekiere
The third reason involves a recent decision by the Finance Inspectorate about the delicate linguistic balancing act that the Federal Government is legally compelled to adhere to for key executive roles.
More specifically, the Inspectorate reports that appointing Wunsch, a native Dutch speaker, would tip the linguistic balance too firmly in favour of Dutch speakers among the heads of Belgium's tax authorities. However, it also notes that appointing a native French speaker would tip the scale too strongly in the other direction among federal public service chiefs.
