The European Commission said today the European Central Bank's plan to rotate voting on its policy-setting council is a good start, but it needs more work.
Its qualified backing to the ECB proposal, designed to make voting on interest rates less unwieldy once more states adopt the euro, throws fresh doubt over a plan that already faces opposition in Finland and the Netherlands.
The EC may propose even more fundamental reforms to ECB voting procedures through the European Convention, which is drafting a constitution reforming the bloc, EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Mr Pedro Solbes said.
At present there are only 12 ECB-member states, and each of their national central bank governors now votes on ECB policy in the governing council, along with the six ECB executive board members who have permanent votes.
But this team of 18 could expand to as many as 31 voters if the 10 mainly eastern European and Mediterranean countries, which are scheduled to join the European Union in May 2004, adopt the euro along with Britain, Denmark and Sweden.
The problem for smaller nations in the euro zone is that they would lose permanent voting rights.
Under the proposal, the ECB divides member states into three groups based on GDP and "financial importance."
The smallest states would vote only 38 per cent of the time, while the largest states - France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom if it joins the euro - would vote 80 per cent of the time.
ECB President Mr Wim Duisenberg concedes this is less than ideal, and he has challenged EU leaders to come up with something better.