Attention is growing around the future of Christine Lagardedriving the European Central Bank From 2019 and theoretically in office until October 31, 2027. The rumors relaunched by the Financial Times on its possible early release to take on a new assignment to the head of the World Economic Forum have caused a full -blown shaking, fueled by the statements of the founder of the organization, Klaus Schwab, and amplified by the initial silence of the ECB.
Everything then requested one official denialarrived with rather clear tones by Frankfurt, which however did not appease the fuss.
The Eurotower lives a complex phase: the prices have not yet stabilized, the orientation on rates is everything but linear, and the digital euro project requires communication consistency and decision -making solidity.
Therefore, even just evoking a sudden succession is equivalent to triggering a domino effect inside and outside the euro area. The chaos born around the position of Lagarde is not a problem of political-financial gossip: It is a short circuit of trust at a time when the ECB cannot afford to be perceived as fragile.
The revelation of the founder of the Davos Forum
To give body to the speculations was Klaus Schwabhistorical figure of World Economic Forumwho in an interview with the Financial Times said that he has long started a confrontation with Lagarde on a possible handover to the guidance of the organization he founded himself.
According to Schwab’s story, the dialogue would not be episodic but part of a structured negotiationto insert the current president of the ECB at the top of the Geneva Forum.
A meeting in Frankfurt and the hypothesis transition
The most recent confrontation between the two would have been held At the beginning of April at the ECB headquarters. On that occasion, Schwab would have advanced a plan to organize Lagarde’s entry to the leadership of the forum, assuming a passage within the first months of 2027.
The idea was to allow them to settle a few months in advance with respect to the end of his assignment to the central bank. The early exit would have been subordinated, according to the reconstructions of the British newspaper, on the return of the euro area inflation around the objective value of 2%.
A new accommodation on Lake Geneva
Among the operational elements of the proposal, Schwab also indicated the possibility of reserving an apartment in Lagarde at Villa Mundione of the residences attributable to the Wef on the banks of the Leman.
A detail that, according to the 87 -year -old economist, would testify how much the transition was now on the right way. The agreement would have included an informal understanding to allow it to move to Switzerland.
The internal investigation to the WEF and the timing of the revelations
The news of the conversations between Lagarde and Schwab arrives in a delicate moment for the World Economic Forum. Just at Easter, Schwab left the presidency of the organization, in parallel to the opening of an internal investigation resulting from a letter containing serious accusations towards him and in those of his wife.
For now, the ECB has not confirmed the rumors about the future of its president, keeping the reserve on the possible sudden scenario. The position of summit to the WEF is currently covered with interim by Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, a former CEO of Nestlé, while the procedure to appoint a stable successor remains in progress.
The official denial by Frankfurt
After the reconstructions of the British newspaper and the Reuters agency found ample echo, the official position of the central bank. A spokesman said that “President Lagarde has always fully committed to completing his mission and is determined to complete his mandate”.
The assignment to the leadership of the Frankfurt Institute, which cannot be renewed, will expire on 31 October 2027.
The rumors circulating on a possible landing in Davos had already emerged in the past, presented as auspices rather than concrete hypotheses. According to some observers, it was Internal items at the Forumperhaps relaunch to recover ground in a time of reputational difficulty for the organization.
A strategic moment for the euro and markets
The noise generated by the hypothesis of a passage of lagarde to the Wef explodes in a moment of particular vulnerability for the ECB. In Frankfurt, for weeks, perplexity multiply On the effectiveness of the current monetary policy line, and the approach followed by the top of the institute is read by several parties as an uncertain and fragmented.
The prospect of a cut of rates in the summer, instead of providing clarity, has opened new interpretative fronts, also due to the latest declarations of Philip Lane, which have highlighted the instability of some inflationary dynamics.
At the same time, the Eurotower is immersed in the construction of thedigital euroa tool designed to guarantee sovereignty in a scenario where external actors could compromise control over the coin.
And so, the ventilated farewell of Lagarde assumes the outlines of a institutional stumblean element of discontinuity capable of further weakening the perception of solidity of the central institution of the Eurozone.
