Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem was chosen Monday as the new head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, diplomats said, becoming the second person ever to hold the post, DPA reported.
Dijsselbloem, 46, succeeds Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who has led the Eurogroup since 2005 and became a key player in the fight against the eurozone's enduring debt crisis.
He had been the only candidate for the post, but was nonetheless asked to outline his agenda to his eurozone counterparts before being approved.
"We have to work on growth and new jobs, and at the same time we have to rebalance our budget," the Dutchman said upon arrival for the talks. "I don't see a great conflict there."
Juncker had initially been due to leave the post in June, but agreed to stay on for a final, shortened, term after ensuring that a countryman was given a spot on the European Central Bank's executive board.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici and Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen were all mentioned as possible successors, but Dijsselbloem emerged as the one candidate all stakeholders could agree to.
The 17 ministers inn the Eurogroup meet informally to take economic decisions affecting their common currency. During the debt crisis, much of the focus has been on rescuing their most troubled members.
The Eurogroup's president traditionally has a two-and-a-half-year term.
A possible bailout for Cyprus was also on the eurozone ministers' agenda, with the country's Finance Minister Vassos Shiarley asking his eurozone counterparts to step in, but no decision was expected.
"We have done everything that was asked or suggested to us. Now is the job for the rest to do their own (part)," Shiarley said at the start of the meeting of eurozone finance ministers.
Cyprus first indicated its intention to seek an international bailout in June, but the EU's only communist government has balked at many of the privatization measures that have been made a condition of international aid.
"I somewhat lack the imagination, given the figures (involved), to see how the problem can be tackled - let alone solved - without privatization," Schaeuble said upon arrival in Brussels.
No decision is likely to be taken under the present government, which faces elections on February 17.
Earlier in the day, Shiarley said Cyprus could stay financially afloat until March, but said the situation would be "very difficult" if it did not then receive help from its eurozone partners.