(BRUSSELS) - Senior eurozone officials called Thursday for a single voice for the bloc on the international stage, in the face of warnings its sometimes divided members would first need to agree on what to say.

Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker urged French President Nicolas Sarkozy in particular to push for a single eurozone seat to be established at the International Monetary Fund.

"President Sarkozy during his electoral campaign ... said that there should be a single representation at the IMF," he told a conference in Brussels on the shared European currency.

"He has four more years, if he leaves (the presidency) after the first five-year term..., to follow up on the issue," he said. "I strongly urge that this (be) done quickly."

While prior to his election Sarkozy has called for eurozone countries to pool their say at international organisations and fora, since he became president has has been notably quiet on the subject.

Juncker's appeal comes as France prepares to take on the European Union's presidency for six months starting in July, with expectations high that Paris will push an ambitious agenda, especially for the eurozone.

Juncker, who is Luxembourg's premier and finance minister, is the chairman of the Eurogroup of finance ministers and comes as close as it gets to being the political voice of the eurozone.

Along with the European Commission and the European Central Bank, Juncker has long led calls for a single representation for the eurozone in major international fora such as the IMF and the Group of Seven.

"We have yet to develop a clear international strategy to match our growing international role," EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told the conference.

"In a globalised world, failure to define and promote our interests on the world stage is neither wise nor responsible," he added. "Yet this is sometimes the reality we face when we eschew speaking with a single voice and being represented by a single chair."

Although the euro is shared by 15 of the European Union's 27 members and more are likely to join in the coming years, there is still no single seat representing the bloc at the IMF, World Bank and G7 meetings.

Efforts to give the eurozone a single seat at the table still face resistance from some member states that would likely have to make way by yielding their spots for the common cause.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn voiced concerns that even if the eurozone had a single seat, the bloc's members might not be able to agree on what positions to take.

"The question is not to know whether or not the eurozone should have a single chair in the World Bank, in the IMF, and in other institutions," he said. "The question is whether or not they are able to have a single policy."

"Having several chairs in different institutions isn't a problem if everybody says the same thing," he added. "The question arises when they don't say the same things."

Regardless of whether the euro having a single seat in international fora, ECB vice president Lucas Papademos said the the currency was increasingly becoming the world's second currency for trade and debt markets as well as official reserves.

"Over the past ten years, the euro has established itself as the second most important currency after the dollar," he said. "Its share is greater than its legacy currencies combined."

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