EU leaders now look likely to agree to the appointment of a Dutch banker, Mr Wim Duisenberg, to the presidency of the European Central Bank when the EU Summit gets under way today. Considerable uncertainty remains, however, about the terms on which he will take the job.
EU Finance Ministers, meeting yesterday, recommended that 11 member-states - Ireland included - participate in the single currency. The heads of government will confirm this at today's summit meeting.
The contest between Mr Duisenberg, who heads the European Monetary Institute and the French central bank governor, Mr Jean-Claude Trichet, for the key job of managing the single currency has threatened to overshadow the announcement of the participants. The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, joined others in warning that the markets would not take kindly to failure.
"It is better for everyone to give certainty - markets thrive on uncertainty," he said.
Speculation still centres on a splitting of the eight-year term of the presidency, although the President of the Commission, Mr Jacques Santer, yesterday made clear such a deal could not be a formal agreement without undermining the treaty.
While Mr Duisenberg is reported to be willing to give an informal undertaking not to serve his full term he, the Dutch and the Germans would have considerable problems if the time-frame was specified.
The German Finance Minister, Mr Theo Waigel, said a "positive and credible" solution would be found before the close of the summit.
The French European Affairs Minister, Mr Pierre Moscovici, said in Paris that France wanted a de facto split in the term of the presidency and that it wanted its man in place for the launch of the euro notes and coins in 2002.
Describing the meeting as "the most important meeting of EU Finance Ministers that there has been", the British Chancellor and president of the Finance Council, Mr Gordon Brown, said the recommendation represented "not the end of a process but the beginning of a new era in Europe".
As the meeting broke up, TV film showed German and Dutch ministers making a particular point of congratulating the Italians on their successful EMU qualification.
The ministers also agreed the text of an important declaration on budget discipline and economic reform which reinforces commitments to mutual monitoring of member-states' budget plans.
Heads of government and the European Parliament will today approve the list recommended by Finance Ministers. The 11 are Ireland, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Finland, the Netherlands, and Austria.
Britain and Denmark have treaty opt-outs, while Sweden has decided to seek one. Greece has not met the convergence criteria, although a special declaration welcomed the progress it had made.