The questioning in the European Parliament lasts a good hour when Christine Lagarde lets out a sigh. What you think of the famous saying of Mario Draghi, she is asked to do in case of doubt "everything necessary" to save the euro? "I hope," she says, "that I never have to say that," replies the President-elect of the European Central Bank (ECB). In an emergency, she adds, the governments of the euro states would have to intervene.
Lagarde's comment on the Draghi movement, the current ECB chief, is likely to be heard more often. It was one of the most succinct statements of the Frenchwoman in her appearance before the Economic and Monetary Committee. The EU leaders had nominated the former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July to replace Draghi as head of the ECB. The official decision is due to fall in October.
Elaborate and knowledgeable, Lagarde countered MEPs' questions on Wednesday in Brussels and set a few pegs on their future conduct of office: Governments with financial leeway "must do more for the economy," she says. This refers to Germany, which is currently accumulating large surpluses in the budget. Other countries would need to push ahead with their structural reforms, she demands. And finally, there must be "more risk sharing" among the governments of the Eurozone.
Lengthy question-and-answer game
The future currency guardian wants to continue Draghi's low interest rate policy. But she wants to sell her better. This becomes clear in the lengthy question and answer game with the deputies.
She feels a bit "intimidated" by the parliamentarians, says Lagarde in her short opening speech. She sits at the front of the packed hall, light gray hair, shining scarf, dark blue costume. Intimidated, of course that's what she says. The woman, so much is clear, is not afraid of the questions that await her in hall 4Q2.
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At the same time, the ECB is being criticized from all sides. Especially in Germany, there is growing concern that their monetary policy could soon lead to lower interest rates for savers. And so does the CSU finance politician Markus Ferber want to know if they could possibly go further and distribute fresh money directly to the citizens, with the helicopter, so to speak, as it had recently suggested IMF economists?
But Lagarde can not be fixed. The central bank must continue to support the economy, she says, as she has done in recent years. She will "listen to the financial markets, but not follow". It does not exclude any instruments, but of course everyone should first be checked for costs and benefits. She wants to focus on topics that are considered "soft" by central bankers. For example, climate protection must become a topic of ECB investment policy in the future, she says.
Professional and winning
Lagarde sees himself less as a designer, but as a seller of the central bank policy, which is also clear this morning. Many citizens would no longer understand monetary policy, she admits. And she praises improvement. In the future, the ECB must "better explain why it does what it does".
When Lagarde leaves the room shortly after 1pm, she can be satisfied. Professional and winning, many MEPs judged their performance afterwards. The green financial politician Sven Giegold praises that Lagarde wants climate protection "to move into the center of financial stability". The President-designate of the ECB understood that "economy and ecology must go together".
Also CSU politician Ferber spoke of a professional appearance. But he also sees a big task on Lagarde to come: "Decisive will be how she explains it to the German savings, if it should actually come to negative interest rates."
The vote has lagged Lagarde at least loosely: 37 MPs voted for them, eleven against them and four abstained.
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