It is also more than 30 of the votes at the IMF

In rejecting the draft European Constitutional Treaty a year ago, the French and Dutch voters were prevented by the Eurogroup, the informal group of Finance Ministers of the euro area, to become a formal entity. While the adoption of the European Constitution would have to increase significantly the international role of the euro area, nothing was moved in this direction for one year. Since May 29, 2005, the issue, however, did win in emergency.

In April, the increasing emphasis of current-account imbalances and the threat they posed to the stability of the global economy have convinced the monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the organ of IMF supervision international, the need for reform in depth mission and governance of the Fund. He has been invited to promote the "multilateral surveillance", by which its Director General Rodrigo Rato means support of global imbalances "in a collective manner with members who are important systemic and even with other entities such as regional groups not having character Member" which, of course, the euro area. The IMFC also developed agreed on the need for "equitable distribution of votes and contributions of all members". Concrete proposals on this point are expected for the annual meeting of the IMF, to be held in Singapore in September.

The two issues are clearly related. To assume new and challenging responsibilities, the IMF would enjoy unquestionable legitimacy. But Asian countries believe that their weight in the global economy is not represented fairly in the governance of the Fund. As Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, rightly pointed out a few months ago in a speech that took a wide echo, legitimacy requires that all members "feel their fair share to the Fund and feel that their voice is well represented". This means finding an agreement on the reform of the voting rights and seats in the Council of the IMF.

For some time, the reduction of the weight of Europe in the Bretton Woods institutions is raised with insistence. It is not difficult to understand why. Currently, the Europe of 25 accounts such as the United States of one hand and China and the Japan on the other hand, approximately 20 of global GDP (measured in purchasing power parity) and a slightly lower percentage of world trade. However the EU holds 7 of the 24 seats on the Board of IMF and chooses the Director General of the Fund, who chairs the Board of Directors of de facto. It is also more than 30 of the votes at the IMF. On the other hand, the United States has only one seat to the Council and 17 of the vote, while China and the Japan have all that two seats and 9 of the vote.

Europeans are rightly that, despite this situation, they have less real power than the United States. Calculations of Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Member of the Executive Council of the ECB, show that as long as the countries of the Union does not coordinate, their "index of" is much lower than that of the United States. It also shows that this index would reach almost 50 (and that of the United States would decrease significantly) if they were able to coordinate their votes. Even if only members of the euro zone were to act in a unified way, their index is two times greater than that of the United States, always on the basis of the current distribution of the votes.

The tendency in Europe remains the timing and the search for a minimum agreement on the adjustment of quota, which postpones more fundamental reforms. This is a bad strategy. Most Europeans expect, less will be economic reform will intervene. Moreover, it is likely that current imbalances will produce an adjustment of the value of the most important currencies, and possibly the emergence of a monetary bloc in East Asia. If and when that happens, it is crucial for the international economy that has put in place a system of multilateral surveillance where all the main actors are represented and in which they trust.

Europe must therefore take the initiative in the discussions on the reform of the IMF. The euro area countries should as soon as possible to unify their representation and propose that their voices are proportional to their economic weight. So, the euro zone share a formal but low power against a real influence in World Economic Affairs. It would relieve also seats and votes for the Asian countries, which are currently underrepresented, thereby allowing the Asian kind of an attitude of distrust of the international financial institutions. The world needs an international monetary system that gives fair place to all important stakeholders.