Banks, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Legislation, Lithuania

The Cabinet on Wednesday is expected to approve Lithuania's position, which is to be stated at a meeting of the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) on November 10th.

"We believe that the fragmentation of Europe's representation in the IMF into the euro area and the remaining EU member states may significantly weaken the EU's common voice at the IMF and that this paves the way for widening of the divide between the euro area and the rest of the EU," the Finance Ministry said.

"It is also necessary to take into account global economic development trends: it is very likely that by 2015 the euro area will only be the world's third-largest economy after the US and China. Therefore, the weight of a unified euro area at the IMF board would be reduced in the future," it said.

The Commission said in late October that it would seek a unified representation for the euro area in the IMF and other economic and financial institutions, thus allowing the euro area to deliver a clearer message on issues such as economic and financial stability and giving its opinion greater weight.

The EU's executive body proposes that the president of the Eurogroup should represent the euro area in the IMF and that this goal should be achieved in several stages by 2025 at the latest.