• Analysis
Christine Lagarde ECB step down: exit set for 7 February 2027, nine months early
Christine Lagarde's ECB step down was announced by the European Central Bank on Thursday morning: she will leave on 7 February 2027, nine months before her term was due to end in late October 2027.
An ovation from the governing council
The ECB's announcement that Christine Lagarde will step down as its president on 7 February 2027 ended months of speculation about her future; her term was not due to run out until the end of October 2027.
The news broke as the governing council gathered to set eurozone interest rates. Members thanked Lagarde warmly and gave her a longstanding ovation.
Lagarde's message on leaving
In a video message, Lagarde said it had been a 'great pride and huge privilege' to serve at the institution.
"I think that I leave this institution with a sense of good work done and an ECB that is fit for the future"
She appeared in the message with two plasters on her face, which she put down to minor surgery earlier in the week, and advised viewers to follow doctor's orders and get their skin checked regularly.
The succession race
The European Council appoints the head of the ECB, which sets monetary policy across the eurozone, at a time of weak growth and above-target inflation. Potential successors reportedly include:
- •Klaas Knot, former Dutch central bank president
- •Pablo Hernández de Cos, the Spanish banker
- •Joachim Nagel
- •Nadia Calviño
Holger Schmieding, Berenberg's chief economist, said the EU is trying to guard itself at least somewhat against the risk that rightwing Marine Le Pen may win the French presidential election in April/May 2027. On his reading, Lagarde's successor will still be appointed while the staunchly pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron still resides in the Élysée Palace.
A tenure shaped by crises
Lagarde joined the ECB in late 2019, shortly before the start of the Covid pandemic, and her time in office has since spanned the Russia-Ukraine war, the Middle East conflict and Donald Trump's trade war.
She has been seen as a candidate to take over the running of the World Economic Forum, which meets in Davos each January. Its founder Klaus Schwab stepped down last year after being accused of financial and ethical misconduct – which he denies.
The ECB was widely expected to keep interest rates on hold at its Thursday afternoon meeting, with the European Council to appoint her successor before the French presidential election of April/May 2027.
