The European Union has backed former French Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn to become the next head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday.

Strauss Kahn has steered France into the euro zone in1999 and, if backed by the Fund's non-European directors, would become the fourth Frenchman at the helm of the IMF in its six decades of existence.

Europe traditionally picks the head of the IMF, while the US nominates the World Bank president.

But recently, calls for breaking the duopoly have been growing louder and some EU ministers went to great length to point out that the nomination did not mean an automatic election.

"It's still an open race," Dutch finance minister Wouter Bos was quoted as saying.

And Poland went one step further, nominating former prime minister Marek Belka, who has worked for the World Bank and JP Morgan, for the job.

The Fund's current chief, Spaniard Rodrigo de Rato is due to step down in October, to spend more time with his family.

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