EU Finance Ministers reiterated their full support for the euro and called for its strengthening in the coming years, including its governance, in a joint article published on the 20th anniversary of the launch of the EU currency, on Friday 31 December.
Entitled ‘Reflections on 20 years of the euro’, the authors recall the trials and improvements of the European currency since its launch on 1 January 2002, in particular the sovereign debt crisis at the beginning of the decade and the establishment of a more effective governance framework for the euro area.
During the pandemic, the authors recall how the European response was, at all levels, more prompt and effective than that of ten years ago, notably with the implementation of the SURE instrument and the vast European Recovery Plan.
The ministers therefore quickly outlined the major projects to be undertaken in order to consolidate the euro’s position as the world’s second most widely used currency. They stress the importance of the European Central Bank’s work on a digital form of the euro - which could be in place by 2026 (see EUROPE 12762/17). Furthermore, they emphasise the strengthening of the Banking Union (see EUROPE 12855/6).
“We must take decisive action to improve the way private investments and savings flow across the Single Market to provide much-needed financing to companies, including our SMEs, and in turn create new job opportunities”, they say.
In general, they consider investment levels in the EU to have been “too low for too long” and call for a significant increase in both public and private financial efforts in European people and infrastructure. In doing so, they stress the cardinal role of the European Recovery and Resilience Plan. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)