ECB appoints Isabel Vansteenkiste as Director General International and European Relations

13 September 2021

• Isabel Vansteenkiste to take up new role on 1 November 2021
• Ms Vansteenkiste succeeds Hans-Joachim Klöckers on his retirement from ECB on 31 October 2021

The Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) has appointed Isabel Vansteenkiste as Director General International and European Relations. The Directorate General monitors and forecasts global economic trends and assists the Executive Board by preparing policy positions on international and EU/euro area matters and by making the arrangements for meetings of, for example, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the G7 and G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, and EU and euro area finance ministers (ECOFIN and the Eurogroup).

Ms Vansteenkiste is currently Deputy Director General Monetary Policy and previously held the position of Deputy Director General Economics. She will succeed Hans-Joachim Klöckers as Director General International and European Relations on 1 November 2021.

Mr Klöckers, who is retiring after more than 23 years at the ECB, has held the position of Director General International and European Relations since March 2018 and previously served as Director Monetary Policy, Deputy Director General Economics and Director General Economic Developments. Prior to joining the ECB, he worked at the European Monetary Institute and the Secretariat of the Committee of Governors in Basel, both of which were tasked with laying the technical groundwork for the setting up of the ECB. He also previously worked at the Deutsche Bundesbank. Mr Klöckers holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Freiburg/Breisgau.

Ms Vansteenkiste joined the ECB in 2002, when she started her career as an economist and expert in fields including exchange rates, forecasting, the US economy, emerging market economies and IMF-related issues. She has held various managerial positions in both the Directorate General International and European Relations and the Directorate General Economics. In the latter she was senior advisor for the preparation of Governing Council meetings and Head of the Country Surveillance Division, which assesses euro area countries’ economic policies. As Deputy Director General Economics, Ms Vansteenkiste participated in European meetings (of the Eurogroup Working Group, the Economic and Finance Committee and the Eurogroup), and as Head of the International Policy Analysis Division, she participated in international meetings (of the BIS, G7 and G20).

Ms Vansteenkiste holds a PhD in Economics from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

For media queries, please contact Alexandrine Bouilhet, tel.: +49 172 174 93 66.

Note

• The Directorate General European and International Relations monitors and analyses global economic and financial developments, in Europe and beyond, making forecasts for key economies and regions outside the European Union. It also prepares and follows discussions with other international institutions. The Directorate General focuses on the international financial architecture, the international role of the euro and EU institutional issues. It also runs the ECB’s representative offices abroad.