Brussels, 22/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - The legal complications facing the Governor of the Bank of France, Jean-Claude Trichet, a frontrunner for replacing Wim Duisenberg of the Netherlands as the head of the European Central Bank (ECB) in July 2003 have fortunately not damaged the euro on the money markets, said Romano Prodi in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung published on Saturday (see Europe of 17 July, p.14). The President of the European Commission said this proved that the ECB was already recognised as a strong institution rather than a feeble baby. Prodi said that the rise in the euro in recent months, rising above parity with the dollar for the first time since February 2000 on Monday, showed that the euro had ever greater support without European exports suffering from it yet. He said the euro's rise was generally good for business because it held back inflation, with trade figures also showing that the euro's current value was not causing problems.