The European Parliament has rejected plans by the European Central Bank (ECB) to rotate member's allocation of places on the bank's governing council. The move, designed to deal with the entrance of new states to the eurozone, would have seen smaller countries such as Ireland lose their right to an automatic place on the council, which sets interest rates for the 12 nations that share the single currency. "MEPs in a non-binding vote, rejected as too complex a proposal coming from the ECB to replace the current voting system on the Board with a "rotation" system," the parliament said. The ECB proposal would have seen each national central bank governor to one of three groups, reflecting the size of the economy in the country concerned.
Instead, the parliament backed a proposal for the retention of existing voting rights for all central bank governors and the continuation of decisions by the council to be taken by a simple majority. EU leaders, who can accept or reject the parliament's advice, will consider the issue at a summit next week. ///www.fxcentre.com