Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, who strongly believes the ECB should be acting far more aggressively in combating the eurozone crisis, lobbied hard to have a compatriot on the European Central Bank’s executive board. Last month, a place finally became vacant when Lorenzo Bini Smaghi announced his departure for Harvard University.

Mr Sarkozy’s nominee to replace him, Benoît Coeuré, deputy director general and chief economist at the French treasury, has now outlined his views in written evidence submitted to the European Parliament.

Anyone hoping he would create a revolution at the ECB may be disappointed. On the main points of ECB policy, there appears little that would upset Frankfurt. Read more