BERLIN (AFP) - the Minister of finance German Wolfgang Sch?uble maintains his French counterpart Christine Lagarde as candidates for EU membership at the head of the Monetary Fund International, a weekly reported German Saturday.
"If Christine Lagarde decided to become a candidate, Europe would have the best chance to occupy this position once more," Sch?uble said Bild am Sonntag in an interview to be published Sunday, the weekly said in a statement.
He said Lagarde, widely touted as the favorite European to replace his compatriot Dominique Strauss-Kahn, now fight against charges of sexual assault, was "perfectly appropriate" for the job. "She is respected and appreciated all over the world of finance."
"It is essential now that Europe speaks with one voice on this issue", he added.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, while stopping short of endorsing the candidacy of Lagarde, Saturday hailed as a "great person" and a "very experienced (with) broad support candidate" in Europe.
Strauss-Kahn resigned on Thursday, five days after he was arrested in New York on charges of sexual assault on a hotel maid. He protested his innocence.
An agreement for a long time between Europe and the United States, a European has always considered the top IMF job while an American leads its sister institution, the World Bank.
But the emerging powers, China and the Brazil call to terminate the agreement for the opportunity to a candidate from a developing country.
LaGarde, 55, already the first woman Minister of Finance of a group of seven countries, would become the first woman to head the IMF.
It is affected by a judicial probe in France, namely if she abused his authority as a Minister involved in a banking scandal involving controversial tycoon Bernard Tapie.
However an EU source said Friday that Lagarde was virtually a"given" as a candidate of the European Union in the share of the estate, with an EU announcement expected at the Summit of Group of eight to come in Deauville in France.
LaGarde is also appreciated by the United States--which has 16.8% of the vote in the Board of Directors of the IMF.
The institution said Friday that the nomination process would take place Monday June 10, to complete the process before June 30.
Developing countries have not merged behind a person. Names mentioned include Indian Planner Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Mexican central banker Agustin Carstens; Minister of finance former Trevor Manuel, the South Africa. and Leszek Balcerowicz, pioneer of the transition from the Poland of communism to a market economy.
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