Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has been reelected as president of the Eurogroup for a second term after winning Monday's vote in Brussels unopposed.

Donohoe was first elected as president of the informal grouping of the eurozone's finance ministers in July 2020, and he will serve in the role for another two-and-a-half years when his second term begins in mid-January.

He was the only minister to put his name forward for the election before the deadline in late November.

It is widely expected that Donohoe will soon be replaced as Minister for Finance by Fianna Fáil's Michael McGrath later this month as part of the cabinet reshuffle when Leo Varadkar takes over from Micheál Martin as Taoiseach.

McGrath will sit on the Eurogroup as Ireland's representative while Donohoe will act as president.

In Association with

Prior to the election, Donohoe chaired a meeting of the board of governors of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), during which Pierre Gramegna was introduced as the new managing director. 

Eurogroup members from all EU27 countries also discussed the macroeconomic outlook and policy prospects, focusing in particular on a coordinated response to high energy prices and inflationary pressures.

The eurozone finance ministers then described issues such as member states' draft budgetary plans before a presentation by the European Commission and first exchange of views on the 2023 euro area recommendations.

Donohoe also attended the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) meeting, where corporation tax and financial support for Ukraine, and he met with ministers from the Czech Republic and Sweden.

Photo: Paschal Donohoe. (Pic: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie)