European Union finance ministers on Tuesday unanimously recommended Portugal's Vitor Constancio to be the next vice president of the European Central Bank (ECB), an EU statement said.

If confirmed by the European Parliament next month, Constancio will succeed Greece's Lucas Papdemos in May.

"It was a unanimous choice," said Italian Economics Minister Giulio Tremonti. "He is a very qualified and technically experienced person, so I think that he was the right choice for Europe."

Constancio, 66, is a former socialist lawmaker and party leader. He has governed Portugal's central bank since 2000 after an earlier appointment from 1985 to 1986.

North-south balance

European Union tradition dictates that member states find a balance between northern and southern European leaders when filling high-level posts.

Observers say the choice of a southern European for ECB vice president appears to leave the post of president open for northerner Axel Weber, current president of Germany's Bundesbank, instead of Italian rival Mario Draghi.

But while Constancio's nomination certainly does not hurt Weber's chances, the German's appointment to the presidency is far from certain.

Current ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, whose term expires in October 2011, said the assumption that Weber would succeed him was "short-sighted."

"I would not automatically push for Germany to get the post of ECB president," Trichet told German public radio station Deutschlandfunk. "Germany is going to have to fight" for Weber to get the position, he said.

acb/dpa/AFP
Editor: Chuck Penfold