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having regard to the Council’s recommendation of 11 February 2019 (05940/2019) (1),

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having regard to Article 283(2), second subparagraph, of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the European Council consulted Parliament (C8-0050/2019),

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having regard to Protocol No 4 on the Statute of the European System of Central banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Article 11.2 thereof,

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having regard to Rule 122 of its Rules of Procedure,

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (A8-0144/2019),

A.

whereas, by letter of 14 February 2019, the European Council consulted Parliament on the nomination of Mr Philip R. Lane as Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank for a term of office of eight years, with effect from 1 June 2019;

B.

whereas Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs then proceeded to evaluate the credentials of the nominee, in particular in view of the requirements laid down in Article 283(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and in the light of the need for full independence of the ECB pursuant to Article 130 of that Treaty; whereas in carrying out that evaluation, the Committee received a curriculum vitae as well as his replies to the written questionnaire that had been sent to him;

C.

whereas the committee subsequently held a hearing with the nominee on 26 February 2019, at which he made an opening statement and then responded to questions from the members of the Committee;

D.

whereas notwithstanding the numerous requests made by the European Parliament to the Council to readdress the lack of gender balance within the ECB Executive Board, the Parliament deplores that the European Council has not taken this request seriously and demands that this request is respected for the next nomination; whereas women continue to be underrepresented in executive positions in the field of banking and financial services; whereas all EU and national institutions and bodies should implement concrete measures to ensure gender balance;

1.

2.