The EU Parliament has chosen Latvian central banker Mārtiņš Kazāks and former Portuguese central bank governor and President of the Eurogroup Mário Centeno as its favorite picks for the ECB vice presidency.Top lawmakers of the Parliament’s Economy Committee have grilled the six candidates – Finland’s central banker, Olli Rehn, Estonia’s Madis Müller, Latvia’s Mārtiņš Kazāks, Lithuania’s former finance minister, Rimantas Šadžius, Portugal’s Mário Centeno, and the Croatian central bank governor, Boris Vujčić — in online interviews on Wednesday.The Parliament has sent a letter with their preferred picks to the Eurogroup. Eurozone finance ministers are going to appoint the next central bank’s vice president at their meeting next week.The Parliament’s position is a blow to Olli Rehn, who has been considered one of the frontrunners in the race, but it doesn’t put him out of contention as lawmakers’ picks are not binding.However, Aurore Lalucq, the chair of the Economy committee, told POLITICO that: “This parliamentary input is an essential part of a democratic back up at a critical moment for financial stability, and we expect the Eurogroup to take that assessment into consideration next Monday.”“We likely would have had fewer candidates to audition if the Baltic countries had united their forces and chosen a single one,” Renew’s Stéphanie Yon-Courtin told POLITICO after the hearings. “Overall, amongst all [six] candidates, only several showed they are qualified for the role,” she said.