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# Netherlands puts forward Klaas Knot as its candidate to lead the ECB after Lagarde
- URL: https://www.theglobalbanker.com/netherlands-puts-forward-klaas-knot-as-its-candidate-to-lead-the-ecb-after-lagarde/
- Published: 2026-11-04T23:27:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-05T00:55:26.000Z
- Description: The Dutch government put forward Klaas Knot, 59, who led the Dutch central bank from 2011 to 2025, ahead of the eurozone's 6 November deadline for candidates.
- Author: TGB Editorial Team
- Tags: Executive Moves, Europe, #newsroom, #needs-photo

The [Netherlands](https://www.theglobalbanker.com/market-netherlands/) has put forward Klaas Knot, the former president of the Dutch central bank, as its candidate to succeed Christine Lagarde as president of the European Central Bank. Finance Minister Eelco Heinen announced the nomination to the Dutch parliament in The Hague, LaPresse reported on 4 November, citing DPA.

Knot, 59, led De Nederlandsche Bank from 2011 to 2025 and is widely seen as one of the leading candidates for the job, together with Pablo Hernández de Cos, the former chief of Spain's central bank.

## A SHORT TIMETABLE

Countries that use the euro have been asked to name their candidates by 6 November, a Eurogroup spokesperson said, and their finance ministers will consider the nominations at a meeting on 9 November. The post becomes vacant because Lagarde has announced her early resignation, effective in February.

Her successor will be appointed by EU countries on the basis of a recommendation by the countries that use the euro. Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel has also expressed interest in the post, but his chances are considered slim.

## KNOT'S RECORD

An economist with a doctorate, Knot sat on the ECB's rate-setting Governing Council during his years as governor. He was a policy hawk who often dissented from the ECB's easy-money policy under Mario Draghi, but mellowed towards the end of his term.

After he retired at the end of his second term, he was made a Grand Officer in the order of Oranje-Nassau, one of the highest Dutch civilian honours. If chosen, he would become the second Dutch ECB president after Wim Duisenberg, who held the post from 1998 until 2003.

## THE RIVAL AND THE PACKAGE

Hernández de Cos, a dove who showed he was able to change his mind when inflation surged in 2022, went on to head the Bank for International Settlements. Nomura economist Andrzej Szczepaniak has noted that Spain has never provided an ECB president, unlike the Netherlands, which he said would help de Cos. Europe's biggest economy, which hosts the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, has never held the presidency either.

## THE TGB VIEW

The decision now runs on a tight calendar: nominations close on 6 November and euro area finance ministers take them up on 9 November. The two leading candidates bring different records: Knot was a hawk who often dissented under Draghi before mellowing, while Hernández de Cos is a dove. A Knot win would give the Netherlands its second ECB president after Duisenberg; Spain has never provided one, and in a package deal the candidate who misses the top job could get another board seat.

*Related: [European central banks propose flexible MiCA liquidity rules for stablecoins](https://www.theglobalbanker.com/european-central-banks-proposed-flexible-mica-liquidity-rules-for-stablecoins/)*