The Popular Party tries to retain the traditional quota of the opposition at the top of the Bank of Spain and convince the first vice president, Nadia Calviño, not to unilaterally appoint the new directors.
PP sources confirm contacts with the Ministry in light of the imminent dismissal this week of the last advisor remaining in the supervisory body appointed by the Government of Mariano Rajoy, the former Secretary of State, Fernando Eguidazu. Next to him is the one designated by the Socialist Government Carmen Alonso. If Calviño ceded to the PP the right to designate the two substitutes, the traditional balance would be respected by which three councilors appointed by the Government, two by the main opposition party and one by the so-called "Catalan quota", as this newspaper reported. last day 29.
However, the efforts entrusted to the general secretary of the PP and parliamentary spokesperson, Cuca Gamarra, have not yet yielded results, according to regrets in the main opposition party.
Official sources from the Ministry of Economic Affairs declined to make comments to this newspaper about their plans for the next council of ministers, but after publishing it in El País, they did later confirm to this newspaper Calviño's willingness for the PP to present proposals for a counselor and not two. At that government meeting, Calviño should propose the names of the two new directors to avoid gaps in the leadership of the supervisory body, integrated into the European Central Bank system. The calendar is pressing.
Government sources indicate that among the names handled by Calviño is that of appointing a new adviser to his chief of staff until last December, Judith Arnal for a period of six years.
This is a commercial technician of the State without political affiliation and a reputation for dialogue and constructive spirit, but she has been the right arm of the first vice president for the last year and a half, they emphasize in the PP.
The governor of the Bank of Spain, Pablo Hernández de Cos, was in favor when he took office in 2018 of maintaining the tradition of balances and has requested in recent years technical appointments without ties to the Government.
However, Calviño already proceeded in 2020 to relieve a councilor from the orbit of the PP, Rafael Castejón, by the former Socialist Councilor for the Economy of the Balearic Islands, Carles Manera and since then, he has not shown any intention of offering the opposition a balance of power, according to the sources consulted. The attitude of Hernández de Cos, critical of the Government's economic and fiscal policy, has raised blisters in the Executive, which until now has opted to appoint the most loyal possible as directors.
In the PP they are awaiting the result of the new contacts and they assure that if the first vice president decides to designate all the advisers it would be an assault on an institution that has traditionally been preserved from disputes by the two government parties. "This is a fundamental issue for us, there must be counterweights in an institution like the Bank of Spain whether we govern or not," says a source from the party leadership.
"In addition, if, as we hope, we reach the Government in 2024, the PSOE will also want us not to name everyone," he adds. In June 2024, whoever is in the Government must designate the replacement for Hernández de Cos -appointed by the Rajoy Government- and the deputy governor, Margarita Delgado, who already arrived hand in hand with Calviño. The tradition is that the governor is chosen by the Government and the number two, agreed with the opposition.
The council is made up of a governor and deputy governor and six non-existing directors with the aforementioned distribution between parties.
The Autonomy Law of the Bank of Spain establishes in its article 24 that «the six Directors will be appointed by the Government, at the proposal of the Minister of Economy, after hearing the Governor of the Bank of Spain. They must be Spanish, with recognized competence in the field of economics or law. Therefore, Calviño has an obligation to "hear" Hernández de Cos before making appointments, but without further restrictions beyond the unwritten pacts with the opposition.
All of them have a term of six years, renewable once. In the case of the PP adviser, a renewal would be feasible, although it is not foreseeable since Calviño has not asked him about his willingness to continue within days of leaving office, according to the sources consulted. And it is not possible to renew the other outgoing director, because she was appointed in 2011.
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