Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), during a rates decision news conference in Frankfurt, Germany, on Thursday, June 11, 2026.

Alex Kraus | Bloomberg | Getty Images

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will step down on Feb. 7 next year, she announced Thursday, formally kicking off a succession race that will be shaped by political bargaining and France's looming fiscal crisis.

Lagarde has led the central bank since July 2019, steering its responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and a series of energy price shocks that sent inflation in the European Union above 11% in 2022 and spurred the end of the post-Financial Crisis era of negative interest rates.

Lagarde will depart nearly nine months before her term was due to expire in October 2027, while the process to appoint her successor will begin immediately.

Lagarde seeks 'freedom of expression'

In a press conference Thursday following the ECB's October interest rate decision, Lagarde confirmed…