Amid pressure from the U.S. and various private experts, European finance ministers are working on a deal that would protect their influence at the International Monetary Fund while allowing more room for emerging countries.
Under the plans being discussed, advanced European economies will share access with Turkey and Poland, Bloomberg reports, citing officials involved in the talks. Venezuela and Mexico would also split an IMF executive board seat they used to share with Spain, the officials added.
Some development experts and economists have argued that Europe’s proposal falls short of the U.S. demand that European countries reduce their voting power within the IMF executive board by giving up some of their seats. Under the U.S. plan, Western European economies would have six to eight seats compared with their current eight to nine.
Europe’s proposed changes “does not address the thrust of the U.S. request,” said Domenico Lombardi of the Brookings Institution, according to Bloomberg. “What we are talking about here is how to preserve the perks of national representation in an increasingly global multilateral institution.”
Lombardi is also a former member of the IMF executive board.
