1 January 2019 marked the twentieth anniversary of the launch of the euro in eleven Member States of the European Union.
Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain were the first countries to adopt the single currency, joined in 2001 by Greece. Euro cash was put into circulation in these European Union countries in January 2002.
"[The euro] has delivered prosperity and protection to our citizens and we must ensure that it continues to do so. This is why we are working hard to complete our Economic and Monetary Union and boost the euro’s international role further," said Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission.
The Commission, like the majority of the political class across the EU, considers the euro a success. Nevertheless, the European institution wants its structures and its place on the world stage to be reinforced.
This is why it has made several proposals aiming to broaden the governance of the Economic and Monetary Union (see EUROPE 11920, 12031), currently under discussion among the euro area finance ministers () and the European Parliament (). In December 2018, it published a Communication on strengthening the international role of the euro.
The euro area summit approved, in mid-December 2018, a reform of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the permanent rescue fund for the euro area, as well as the creation of a safety net (‘backstop') for the Single Resolution Fund, the financial arm of the 'resolution' component within the euro area banking union (). But the completion of the banking union, with the establishment of a European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS), is still a long way off.
The Eurogroup has received a mandate from the leaders of the euro area to work from now until June on the modalities of a fiscal capacity for the euro area without a stabilisation function, in anticipation of future decisions on the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)