Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, Michael Noonan Irish finance minister and Wolfgang Schäuble, German finance minister, Brussels, Nov 29, 2011. Wolfgang Schäuble received the Charlemagne Prize in the city of Aachen for his work on European integration last May. Dr. Schäuble, a lawyer who hails from the Baden region of south-western Germany, is a key player in the battle to save the euro. He was 70 last September and has been wheelchair-bound since an assassination attempt in October 1990. Dr Schäuble has been a member of the German Bundestag since 1972 and was one of the leading politicians in the lead-up to the reunification of Germany.

Wolfgang Schäuble of Germany has been chosen by The Financial Times (FT) as Europe's top finance minister in 2012 from 19 of the EU fiscal chiefs. Michael Noonan of Ireland got a 5th ranking.

The FT says Wolfgang Schäuble has survived at the top of Germany’s political system for three decades - - and for him 2012 might prove a vintage year. “More than any other finance minister, Mr Schäuble articulated his vision for a more integrated Europe,” says Erik Nielsen, a member of the expert jury and chief economist at Italian bank UniCredit.

Jacques Delpla, adjunct professor, Toulouse School of Economics, one of the seven judges commented: "The best performing ministers in 2012 were Greece’s Yannis Stournaras, Portugal’s Vítor Gaspar, Ireland’s Michael Noonan and Italy’s Vittorio Grilli. They pushed for far-reaching and comprehensive reforms of a kind that have never been seen before."

Finfacts would give Delpa "nul points" for the fiction that Michael Noonan has pushed through comprehensive reforms.

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