Last tango for Eurogroup chief Dijsselbloem
BRUSSELS: Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who steps down as chair of the Eurogroup today (December 4), rose from obscurity to become an unflappable dealmaker who helped guide Europe through the worst of the Greek debt crisis.
Only two months after becoming Dutch finance minister in November 2012, Dijsselbloem was thrust into heading the powerful Eurogroup of 19 finance ministers – and headlong into the crisis in Cyprus.
In a baptism by fire, the straighttalking Dijsselbloem drew criticism for his handling of the 2013 bailouts, put down mainly to his inexperience in navigating the treacherous waters of a global economy in meltdown.
He was criticised for a bailout that forced the closure of a major Cypriot bank, and then sent markets into a tail-spin when he said the Cyprus plan could serve as a template for future bailouts – an off-the-cuff observation that in the end turned out to be partly true.
A clumsy turn of phrase would become a running motif for Dijsselbloem, who last year drew the fury of southern Europeans with a quip that implied that bailed out countries spent their money on ‘drinks and women’.
Despite the bumps, the curlyhaired Dijsselbloem – pronounced ‘day-sell-bloom’ – stoically weathered the storms and ends his tenure respected for his cool and calm approach.
The 51-year-old is “serious, patient, and someone who fought hard to win the deep trust of his partners”, former French finance minister Michel Spain told AFP.
“Despite his usual reserve, he became a true friend,” Sapin said.
Taking exception to the plaudits would be Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s former finance minister, a leftwing firebrand with whom Dijsselbloem frequently battled over Greece’s bailout programme.
The pair – one besuited and bespectacled, the other shaven-headed and fond of leather jackets and motorcycles – famously shared the tensest of handshakes after one early meeting and reportedly almost came to blows.
But, strongly backed by the powerful German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who has also recently left office, Dijsselbloem bloomed into a skilled and no-nonsense negotiator.
His first breakthrough came in early 2014, when he put together Europe’s banking union, an ambitious project devised to protect taxpayers from forking out public funds in case banks go bankrupt. — AFP