When EU leaders gather next weekend to nominate formally the countries which will participate in the introduction of the single currency, there will be a ghost at the feast in the shape of the still unresolved dispute over the leadership of the new European Central Bank (ECB). It is a sorry business. With support from Germany and most other EU states, it had appeared that Mr Wim Duisenberg, the Dutch chairman of the European Monetary Institute, was poised to become the first governor of the ECB. But these welllaid plans have been knocked off course by the continuing efforts of the French government to press the claims of Mr Jean-Claude Trichet, the governor of the Banque de France.
The issue is no longer one of personalities. Both Mr Duisenberg and Mr Trichet have impeccable credentials. Rather, it is about the possible shape of monetary policy inside the EMU-zone. Mr Duisenberg is widely seen as a "Bundesbank clone"; someone who will shape monetary policy free from any political influence. Mr Trichet's appointment, by contrast, might send a signal that the ECB would be subject to greater political control.
With neither the French nor the Germans willing to compromise on the issue, there is continuing speculation about some kind of job-sharing arrangement in which Mr Duisenberg would step down after four years and give way to Mr Trichet. To its credit, the Bundesbank has expressed deep reservations about this bizarre plan. The bank believes that the compromise deal contradicts the terms of the Maastricht Treaty which - in an effort to underpin the ECB's independence - envisaged a single eight-year term. But it would do more than this; it would also shake the hard-won credibility of the single currency project by presenting a confusing, ambiguous view to the markets about the shape of future monetary policy.
In truth, the aggressive French approach to the whole issue is difficult to fathom. Paris has played an honourable and distinguished role in building up the credibility of EMU. The overriding French interest in a successful transition to the single currency is best served - not necessarily by the appointment of a French banker to the ECB - but rather by the nomination of someone who will shape monetary policy in the wider European interest in a fair and independent way. Both Mr Duisenberg and Mr Trichet meet these criteria. The problem is that the appointment of Mr Trichet in current circumstances might be interpreted as a signal that Paris has placed its "own man" at the helm of the ECB.
Some EU leaders believe that the issue does not have to be resolved until the ECB is formally established on July 1st next. But the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair - who has acquired something of a reputation of late as a peace broker - would do well to address the issue fully when he chairs next weekend's summit. There is a great deal at stake, not least the future credibility of the single currency.