STRASBOURG, France, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The chairman of euro zone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, criticised some euro zone governments on Tuesday, saying they often put national interests over those of the currency bloc in international fora.
"Despite significant progress, the international representation of the euro is still often too fragmentary and national interests too often take precedence over the common interest that we have," Juncker told the European Parliament.
He said 2009 would be very difficult for the 16 countries sharing the single currency and that despite the stability the euro had brought since its creation 10 years ago, the bloc's cohesion remained to be tested.
"The real test for the cohesion of the euro zone is still facing us ... 2009 is going to be an extremely difficult year for the euro zone and its citizens," Juncker, who chairs monthly meetings of euro zone finance ministers, said. (Writing by Jan Strupczewski, editing by Dale Hudson)