27/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Corriere della Sera dated 24 June states from Frankfurt, notably referring to indiscretions by a "high-level source" in the European Central Bank to the American agency Market News, that on 6 June a minority of members of the ECB Governing Council had proposed increasing interest rates on 6 July, but that the majority had been against it (see EUROPE of 7 June, p.14). The governor of the Central Bank of the Netherlands, Nout Wellink had then accused the "large countries" of their tendency to defend "their national interests" within the ECB, adds the daily, noting that, for experts, it is especially Germany's Otmar Issing, ECB Chief Economist, who insisted on the rise in interest rates, despite the opposition of the majority.