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The Bundesbank president has long been seen as a leading candidate for the post, with EU capitals waiting for Angela Merkel to make the case that Berlin’s time had come to secure a job yet to be held by a German.
But there are growing signs that Ms Merkel’s EU job priorities lie elsewhere, notably in securing the presidency of the European Commission for a German national. Mr Weidmann’s fading prospects — Berlin can rule out getting two very senior jobs — will be a relief to southern eurozone capitals wary of the German’s very public opposition to crisis-fighting measures taken by the ECB since 2012.
The shift has thrown attention on to other potential candidates to fill Mr Draghi’s shoes when he steps down at the end of October 2019. For Ms Merkel, abandoning Mr Weidmann increases the pressure to find a candidate who shares Berlin’s economic orthodoxies, such as the need for tighter monetary policy as the eurozone moves on from the crisis years.
Full analysis on Financial Times (subscription required)