Gil-Robles, who emerged as one of the stronger critics of the messy May 2 deal which led to nomination of Dutchman Wim Duisenberg as the bank's president, said the bank which will manage the EU's single currency will be in good hands.

Gil-Robles was speaking to Reuters on the eve of the 626-member parliament's non-binding but politically-weighty vote on the six ECB board members on Wednesday, after two days of confirmation hearings last week.

"We think they are good and capable of leading the ECB," Gil-Robles said in his Strasbourg parliamentary office. "They have given us a very clear explanation of their policies. They have explained their policies to the citizens and this is something that will play a role in guaranteeing their independence in carrying outtheir mandates."

After protracted wrangling marred the summit intended to herald the EU's euro currency on May 2, EU leaders agreed to name Duisenberg as the first president of the ECB, noting his declaration, under French pressure, that he did not intend to serve the full eight-year term specified by the EU treaty.

The deal raised questions about the independence of the bank which will set interest rates in the euro-zone from January 1 next. Gil-Robles was one of the quicker and harsher critics on the night, saying the deal was bad for the bank, comparing it to a difficult birth from which he hoped the bank would recover.

Gil-Robles said on Tuesday he was not eating his words, but that the way the deal was struck was no reason for rejecting Duisenberg or the other five members of the bank's executive board, who had demonstrated their independence and competence at last week's hearings.

"I am not taking it back. What I criticised was not the result, but the procedure. The procedure was bad. It gave abad impression to everyone," he said. "But it would be damaging if we throw out the baby with the bath water. I think we have a responsible approach."

The 626-member parliament, the EU's only directly elected body and just one year from its next elections, will be the only body in the EU with powers to grill the board, whom they will meet four times a year. Gil-Robles said the assembly, which is almost certain to approve the six nominees on Wednesday, had proved it was up to the task during confirmation hearings last week, when deputies pounded nominees on questions from their independence to their views on interest rates, inflation and the dollar.

"I think that the questions were sufficiently clear...are they sufficiently independent and sufficiently competent?" He does not imagine the day when the parliamentary hearings will exactly mirror the prime-time confirmation hearings in the United States, where details of the nominees' private lives can feature as much as views on interest rates.

"They aremore like a show...... .that's not the style of the European parliament," he said. But he sees the day when the parliament, rather than simply expressing an opinion will be able to throw nominees out. "What I think we need is simply that the parliament should have the right to formally approve the candidates, not only give opinion."