Euro zone ministers to discuss ECB appointments, but await leaders' guidance

BRUSSELS, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers will discuss on Monday two candidates to replace European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, but are unlikely to make any recommendations yet, waiting for EU leaders to reach a deal first.

Lagarde will step down on February 7, nine months before the end of her term, making the schedule tight because leaders must also fill two other seats on the ECB's Executive Board within months.

The two candidates to replace Lagarde are Dutch former central bank governor Klaas Knot and the head of the Bank for International Settlements Pablo Hernandez de Cos from Spain.

Under EU rules, euro zone finance ministers have to recommend a candidate, who then has to have a hearing in the European Parliament before EU leaders make the final appointment. EU governments would like to do that by the end of the year.

"We understand that we need to move fast. But what has traditionally happened in the past is that this was a decision driven by the leaders. Today it will be primarily an information point and the discussion," the chair of euro zone ministers Kyriakos Pierrakakis told reporters on entering the meeting.

Apart from Lagarde, leaders also have to agree on who should replace Isabel Schnabel, the head of the ECB's market operations, who leaves on January 3, 2027, and Chief Economist Philip Lane, whose term ends in May 2027.

The three jobs are likely to be negotiated between the main euro zone countries — France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands — as a package, officials said.

"Perhaps this would facilitate things. But again, this is a decision that will be taken by the leaders at the leaders level," Pierrakakis said.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)