The Single Currency—Europe’s Opportunity

Abstract

Nothing better illustrates how far the European Union has come over the last decade—politically, economically and philosophically—than the creation of the euro, Europe’s new single currency. When I arrived in Brussels the blueprint for Economic and Monetary Union had not even been drawn up. The idea of a single currency had of course been around for many years as an ideal and a discussion topic, but not as a serious prospect. Today the euro is a fact of life for 11 member countries of the European Union and nearly 300 million European citizens.