PARIS — Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau is to quit his job in early June, more than a year before the end of his mandate.

In a move that took both Paris and Europe’s financial markets by surprise, the 66 year old said in a letter to staff Monday that his mission at the bank was largely accomplished and that it was time “to pass on the responsibility.”

One consequence of his early departure is that it will allow the current French President, Emmanuel Macron, to manage the succession process and ensure that one of the most important positions in the French state is occupied by someone ideologically sympathetic for the next six years, rather than by a representative of the extreme right or left.

Had Villeroy seen out his term, the succession would have been in the gift of whoever follows Macron as president. France’s next presidential elections are due next year and Macron is not allowed to serve a third consecutive term. Under the French constitution, the bank’s governor is proposed by the president and is appointed by government decree after a parliamentary vote.

Macron’s opponents were swift to call out what they saw as a stitch-up.

Jean-Philippe Tanguy, a top lawmaker in the far-right National Rally (RN), said he suspected Villeroy’s early departure of being a maneuver to lock in influence over the central bank and stop the next president from appointing the new governor. The RN has been consistently ahead in recent opinion polls.

“I spend my life telling people that Macronism is illiberal and uses democracy as a doormat,” Tanguy said.

One French official with direct knowledge of the Bank of France dynamics also hinted the theory, telling POLITICO that some Bank staff had been expecting Villeroy not to stay until the end of his mandate “because of the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming presidential election.”

However, such thinking would have to remain speculative for now, said Nicolas Véron, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute in Washington.

Villeroy explained that he had been approached to take over the presidency of the Fondation Apprentis d’Auteuil, a Catholic charity that helps young people from difficult social backgrounds to get into the job market. He said he had taken his decision “in complete personal independence” and added that there would be enough time between now and June to organize a smooth succession.

An influential voice on the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, Villeroy is currently serving his second six-year term as governor. He has been at the head of France’s central bank for nearly 11 years and “has been a solid, well-respected governor,” according to Véron.

Quick and fulsome praise

Villeroy’s colleagues were quick to heap praise on the outgoing governor.

“The [ECB’s]Governing Council has benefited enormously from the realism combined with strong European convictions and vision that he always brings to the table,” Lagarde said in a statement, paying tribute to his “friendly, wide-ranging, team-oriented, good-humored and consistently well-articulated contributions.”

“His deep engagement with the European cause, tied to his sincere love for France and his particular attachment to the Saar, have made him a living bridge between our countries,” his German counterpart Joachim Nagel said in a statement. “In all his works and deeds, we wish that he keeps his indefatigable creativity, his unflinching optimism and his infectious clarity.”

Sylvain Broyer, an analyst with S&P Global in Frankfurt and a veteran ECB-watcher, noted that Villeroy “has often served as a compass for the markets,” helping them to gauge the direction of monetary policy at a time when the ECB has dropped its previous commitment to explicitly guiding the markets on its intentions.

In recent years, Villeroy has also been a tireless advocate at home for fiscal consolidation, regularly appearing on domestic radio and television to stress — in non-partisan terms — the need for France to reduce its budget deficit.

In his letter, he pledged to staff that he would stay close to the Bank, “and in particular to the mission of economic and financial education that I believe is essential for our country.”

Johanna Treeck contributed to this report.