MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Euro Central Bank president confirmed.

French born Jean-Claude Trichet is the next president of the European Bank following his approval by the European Union Congress.

Mr. Trichet will take over from Wim Duisenberg next November and received a strong mandate to continue with the current European Union Central Bank policies of combating inflation and keeping interest rates above those prevalent in United States.

The Euro Central Bank is responsible for the monetary policy of the twelve EU countries that have accepted the Euro as the common currency.

Mr. Trichet was the only candidate and had the support from the Finance Ministers of all fifteen country members of the EU and the major political parties in the Strasbourg Parliament.

The nomination received 315 votes, 85 against and 75 abstentions. During the debate several members of Parliament argued in favour of a more active monetary policy to promote growth.

Actually France and Germany face flat expanding economies and surging budget deficits threatening to overrun the Maastricht GDP 3% limit. However France and Germany seem more inclined to "momentarily" push the cap and redefine the magnitude of a budget deficit taking into account other parameters.