The two announcements, made on the sidelines of a meeting of the Group of Seven developed nations in Marseille, France, could have a lasting impact on the way the euro zone handles its crippling debt crisis.If he gets approval from the other 16 euro zone finance chiefs, Joerg Asmussen will succeed Juergen Stark on the ECB’s six-member executive board at the end of the year, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.Stark unexpectedly resigned from the board Friday in a move analysts said was triggered by disagreements over the ECB’s bond buying program. The announcement of his departure sent stocks and the euro tumbling as it drew up more questions over the euro zone’s crisis strategy.Stark was one of only a handful of ECB decision makers who opposed the bank’s massive purchases of Italian and Spanish government bonds in recent weeks.Supporters of the purchases argue that they help support struggling governments during unwarranted market selloffs and buy time for the currency union to find a more lasting solution to its debt troubles. But opponents like Stark have warned that they saddle the bank with risky investments that could hurt its independence and stability if one of the aided governments defaults.Asmussen, who sat side-by-side with Schaeuble at the news conference, declined to comment on whether he supports or opposes the ECB’s bond purchases.Unlike Schaeuble, Asmussen is a member of the opposition Social Democrats and survived the handover of the Finance Ministry in 2009 to the conservatives because of its experience in European and financial policy. He had joined the ministry in 1996 and quickly rose through the ranks. Generally, the Social Democrats support loser monetary policy and more help for the euro zone’s weaker members.However, like the current Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, Asmussen studied under former Bundesbank President Axel Weber — both forceful opponents of the bond buying program.At the same news conference, Schaeuble also said that he plans to make new proposals on the future governance of the euro zone at a meeting with his counterparts next week. He said he will make the proposals together with French Finance Minister Francois Baroin at a meeting with their counterparts next week in Wroclaw, Poland.The governance of the euro zone, especially when it comes to fiscal and economic issues, has moved into the center of debate during the debt crisis, which has pushed Greece, Ireland and Portugal into needing hundreds of billions of euros in rescue loans and created concerns over the finances of Spain and Italy.Schaeuble did not give details on his plans. However, last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for a “new economic government” for Europe.Under that new regime, euro zone leaders would meet at least twice a year under European Union President Herman Van Rompuy. Merkel and Sarkozy also called for all euro zone nations to enact constitutional amendments requiring balanced budgets.
