Statement by Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank

20 October 2021

I respect Jens Weidmann’s decision to step down from his position as President of Deutsche Bundesbank at the end of this year after more than 10 years of service, but I also immensely regret it. Jens is a good personal friend on whose loyalty I could always count.

As the Governing Council’s longest serving member he had unparalleled experience that he was always ready to share. In the past two years we built a very strong and productive relationship based on our joint commitment to furthering European unity, fulfilling the ECB’s price stability mandate, helping the euro area economy through the unprecedented crisis caused by the coronavirus, and stabilising the global economy shaken by the effects of the pandemic.

While Jens had clear views on monetary policy I was always impressed by his search for common ground in the Governing Council, by his empathy for his Eurosystem colleagues, and his willingness to find a compromise. One of the many moments this became evident was in our work on the strategy review where he significantly contributed to its successful, unanimous agreement in the Governing Council.

I will miss Jens and his always constructive and good-humoured approach in all of our discussions.