EU Commission wants European head of the IMF (Reuters)

Brussels (Reuters) - European Union should agree on a strong candidate from Europe to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the head of the Monetary Fund International, the European Commission said Thursday.

As the largest donor to the IMF, it was natural that the 27 EU Member States should agree on a candidate, spokesman for the Board Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen told journalists.

"We believe that we can find strong candidates for Europe to succeed to Dominique Strauss-Kahn," she said.

"...We believe that it is natural to work on the ground a European candidate, then that in the same time, courses, its jurisdiction and not nationality who decides who is the best man or woman for the job. ?

Strauss-Kahn resigned as head of the IMF, saying that he needed to concentrate on the fight against charges that he sexually assaulted a hotel maid in New York. His weekend arrest sparked debates about the tradition of 65 years that a European is appointed head of the global lender based in Washington.

Top economic official of the EU, Olli Rehn said knowledge of the European economy would be useful for any qualification new head of the IMF.

"It is essential that the Director General of the IMF will be selected based on merit and competence", he told a business conference in Brussels. "It's a merit if the person to be chosen for this task has knowledge of the European economy".

Rehn, Commissioner for economic and monetary to EU Affairs, working in close collaboration with the IMF financial crisis, in several States of the eurozone, with joint EU/sureties for the Greece the Ireland and Portugal.

The Commission spokesman, said the right person to lead the IMF should be able to rally the support of the membership of the IMF.

"I am sure that now consultations will intensify on the succession and putting forward a candidate European fort to occupy the position," Ahrenkilde Hansen said, although she noted it was not on the Commission to play a formal role in this.

(Written by Rex Merrifield, other reports by Robert-Jan Bartunek and John O'Donnell; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

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