At the 10th European Banking Congress in Frankfurt, Prodi said that only when Europe spoke with one voice could the continent play a big-power role politically as well as economically.
In his speech to bankers gathered from around Europe, Prodi asserted that the weakness of the single euro currency was only a temporary matter.
In order to improve the euro, there should be a stronger coordination of budgets, he said. Europe still lacked a clear and reliable fiscal policy.
The E.U. Commission chief executive also urged the 11 eurozone members, within the framework of the International Monetary Fund, to bundle their voting rights together into a single vote, which would then be larger than that of the United States.
This would give the E.U. decisive influence in international financial questions, Prodi said.
Meanwhile Hungarian Prmier Victor Orban told the congress that his country would continue to press for speedy membership in the E.U.
He said Hungary had completely opened itself up economically to the western European states, but that it was still being kept on the sidelines "politically and institutionally".
Orban said there was no alternative to E.U. expansion into eastern Europe. "This is historical justice," he said, while criticising what he said was a discussion in the E.U. which only focused on the costs of expansion but not the advantages which could be expected.
By including eastern Europe, the E.U. had "a great chance" finally to create a unified Europe, the Hungarian leader said.
(la/dpa)
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