- Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes
As Lithuania is heading towards the Euro zone membership as soon as 2015, it backs up the fact that the Euro is a strong reserve currency. However, the country's succession to the currency bloc will bring dramatic changes to the voting system in the European Central Bank's rate-setting committee. The five biggest countries will share four votes, while the 13 other countries will have to share 11, with Ireland losing its permanent vote at the ECB council level, fuelling indignation of country's top officials. It means that for one month every year Ireland will not have an opportunity to vote on issues that could have a significant effect on the economy, but would still be able to participate in all discussions.
Meanwhile, the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is still confident over the country's economic health, while defending the government's attempts to implement structural reforms. He also expressed confidence in dragging Italy out of the crisis, keeping Italian finances under control. In contrast, analysts are concerned that the Italian budget deficit could cross 3% of GDP, a limit set by the EU, for this year due to weak economic growth. Last week, Italy's economic data disappointed markets, as the country's GDP eased 0.2% in the second quarter. Economists hope that the worse-than-expected data would urge Renzi to speed up economic reforms.
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