The European Central Bank has called on EU leaders to begin seeking a successor to Lagarde.

On October 30, the spokesperson for European Council President Costa confirmed that the European Central Bank has asked EU member state leaders to launch a selection process for a successor to Chief Economist Philip Lane. This signals the official beginning of the contest for another vacancy on the ECB Executive Board.

While this is simply a procedural step to fill a position that will officially open on June 1, the setup allows eurozone officials to link Lane's vacancy with those of ECB President Christine Lagarde and Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel during negotiations. Spain's Decos and the Netherlands' Knot are seen as leading candidates to succeed Lagarde. France and Germany may each secure the other two spots to maintain their seats on the ECB's highest decision-making body. (Jin10)