BRUSSELS (AP) - The EU president Herman Van Rompuy says that European leaders have confirmed Italian Mario Draghi as the next president of the European Central Bank.
The timing of Draghi's appointment had come under doubt as fellow Italian executive board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi had refused to leave his post to make space for Draghi.
However, a European official said Friday that Bini Smaghi has agreed to step down by the end of the year.
Draghi's appointment gives investors some certainty over who will lead the ECB in its pivotal role against Europe's crippling debt crisis once the current president Jean-Claude Trichet ends his term in October.