The German Chancellor and French President have vowed to dramatically overhaul the single currency by introducing a joint eurozone budget.
But Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands have all poured cold water on the ambitious plans.
In a blow to Mrs Merkel and Mr Macron, finance ministers from the eight northern member states said it was too early to push ahead with the proposals.
The ministers, in a damning joint statement, said any reforms should focus on on completing the EU banking union and improving compliance with Brussels’ budget rules.
They said: “Stronger performance on national structural and fiscal policies in line with common rules should have priority over far-reaching proposals.”
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Mrs Merkel and Mr Macron are expected to soon resume talks about reforming the 19-country currency bloc.
Discussions between the two leaders had been on holding pending the formation of a new government in Germany, the EU’s economic powerhouse.
But the statement lays out the extent to which France and Germany’s plans will be challenged by smaller, supposedly less influential member states.
The group believes the integration plans should focus on areas where member states are already closest to a compromise.
Finland’s Finance Minister Petteri Orpo said: “There are ‘nice to have’ reforms, like a common finance ministry, but they do not solve the real problems.
“That will only be done through pragmatic steps.
“We should not implement quasi-reforms, but be honest and acknowledge which reforms actually fix the problems we’re facing.”
The northern group said it supports the idea of expanding the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) fund into a European monetary fund (EMF).
However, it is firmly opposed to the European Commission’s proposal on having the European Parliament oversee it.
The statement said: “An EMF should have greater responsibility for the development and monitoring of financial assistance programmes.
“Decision-making should remain firmly in the hands of member states.”
The idea of expanding the role of the bailout fund is backed by both Mrs Merkel and Mr Macron.
Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg