The ATMs of the European Union began to distribute, exactly twenty years ago, the first banknotes in euros, a currency that, not without difficulties, managed to consolidate and today is part of the daily life of 340 million EU citizens.
“It is a true European success, (…) a reliable, dynamic and solid currency,” he assured the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on Saturday.
Imagined in the 1970s as an instrument of integration, which aspired to facilitate commercial transactions and compete with the dollar, the euro entered physical trade on January 1, 2002, forcing the inhabitants of the twelve countries initially members of the Union to abandon their national currency.
The Germans, for example, had to give up their beloved mark for a new currency with a simple conversion rate (two euros, one mark), but others, such as the French, the Spanish or the Italians, had to get used to more complex multiplications.
Gone are also the familiar figures that adorned banknotes of francs, liras or pesetas: initially, the common currency had in its seven notes Romanesque or Gothic arches or even modern architectural elements, which represent the different periods of European history, although currently there are a “makeover” process is underway.
Since 2002, seven additional European countries have adopted the euro (Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Malta). And Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania, community members, should join the club in the next few years.
The change generates a mixture of joy and apprehension among the inhabitants of the new countries, who fear a rise in prices.
This fear coincides with that of the vast majority of the population of the euro area, who have the impression of having lost purchasing power. And this despite the fact that statistics show that, on the contrary, that the common currency has stabilized inflation.
Some inexpensive everyday products, such as bar coffee, rose due to rounding up after the currency exchange, but other more expensive products remained stable in price.
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The euro has now become the second safest currency, behind only the dollar, and constitutes 20% of the world’s foreign exchange reserves (compared to 60% of the dollar).
So much so that political leaders such as Marine Le Pen or Matteo Salvini, who for a time promoted the exit from the euro, have abandoned that demand.
But these two decades have not been a haven of peace: less than ten years after its launch, the euro was badly affected by the earthquake of a serious financial crisis, with Greece at the epicenter.
Member states and institutions then realized that “the architecture of the euro was not originally designed to absorb the seismic impact of the global financial crisis,” several finance ministers and members of the European Commission recall from a rostrum on Saturday.
But these pitfalls and these “first crises have allowed the euro to mature and strengthen its international role,” offering “valuable lessons that have been useful during the current pandemic,” they say.
“As president of the European Central Bank, I promise you that we will continue to work hard to ensure price stability,” promised Christine Lagarde, a wad of banknotes in hand, in a video released by the ECB on Saturday.
To continue expanding its influence, the euro now dreams of realizing its geopolitical ambitions and securing its future in the digital arena.
“A digital euro could open up new perspectives in terms of research and innovation,” stressed Charles Michel. “One thing is for sure,” he said, “massive investments are needed to ensure the success of our dual, green and digital transition. That is why completing the banking union and the capital markets union is so vital.”
bur-cha-liu / pn / aoc / me
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