The story of the "euro"

On January 1, 2002, the euro officially became the legal tender of the 12 countries of the eurozone. On January 28, February 9 and February 17, the currencies of the Netherlands, Ireland and France successively withdrew from their own circulation; on February 28, the other 9 countries - Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, finland also all gave up their old currencies, and their currencies completely stopped circulating in the market. From this day on, 12 EU countries began to use a single currency, the euro. Achieving the unification of European currencies was once one of Napoleon's visions of European unification, and 200 years later this vision finally became a reality.

Euro banknotes include both euro banknotes and coins. Banknotes are divided into 7 denominations, namely 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5 euros, the larger the denomination, the larger the banknote area. The obverse of the banknote consists of doors and windows symbolizing the spirit of cooperation, and the background is the EU flag surrounded by 12 pentagrams of Venus; the back of the banknote is a bridge meaning to connect. Various doors, windows and bridges and other motifs represent the architectural styles of various periods in Europe, according to the value of the currency from small to large, classical, romantic, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo, iron and glass, modern style, the color is gray, red, blue, orange, green, khaki, lilac. In addition, the banknote also leaves 1/5 of the face space, and the euro member states print their own emblems, such as scenic spots, king heads, etc. Euro coins are divided into 8 denominations, namely 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 euro cents and 1 and 2 euros, and 1 euro is equivalent to 100 euro cents. On the obverse of the coin is an EU map and bar pattern representing the cohesion between EU countries, and on the back motif is chosen by the member states for their respective national emblems. These banknotes and coins with different national emblems are common to all eurozone countries.

The birth of the euro was not smooth sailing, it underwent a long process of development. On April 18, 1951, when France, Germany, Italy, Finland, Belgium and Luxembourg signed the establishment of a coal and steel joint venture community in Paris, military considerations far exceeded economic considerations. On March 25, 1957, when the six countries participating in the coal and steel joint venture signed the Treaty of Rome and decided to establish the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community, the issue of achieving the monetary unity of Europe had not yet entered the eyes of politicians. In March 1971, the European Union adopted the "Werner Plan", which took the first step towards the realization of a single European currency, which advocated the establishment of the European Economic and Monetary Union in three phases within 10 years. However, the ensuing oil crisis and financial turmoil led to the stranding of the Werner Plan. In March 1979, under the initiative and efforts of France and Germany, the European Monetary System was established, and the European monetary unit "Egui" was born. But until this time, the establishment of a unified European currency, the euro, was still a beautiful but distant dream. In February 1986, the European Community signed the Single European Document, proposing to establish a unified market by the beginning of 1993 at the latest. In June 1989, the European Community, through the so-called "Delore Report", decided to create the European Economic and Cargo Union in three phases: the first step, the full realization of the free circulation of capital; the second step, the establishment of the European Monetary Office (the predecessor of the European Central Bank); and the third step, the establishment and implementation of the Economic union, replacing the currencies of member states with a single currency. It was only then that the euro was put on a strict agenda for the first time. On 10 December 1991, the EC Summit adopted the Treaty on European Union (commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty) and decided to rename the EC as the European Union. The Martendez oactory provides for the introduction of a single currency, as confirmed by the Council of Europe, by 1 January 1999, if more than seven Member States meet the "convergence criteria". On 15 December 1994, the Madrid Summit decided to replace Egui with the name of the European single currency the euro. On January 1, 1999, the euro was officially launched, and on January 4, the euro officially debuted in the international financial market. On January 1, 2002, euro banknotes and currencies officially entered the market as circulating currencies. On February 28, the national currencies of the member countries were completely withdrawn from circulation, and the coexistence period between the euro and the member countries' currencies ended.

The euro has gone through twists and turns, and how it has finally come to fruition, perhaps we can find a satisfactory answer from this passage of French President Jacques Chirac. He pointed out that many things today are beyond the scope of the state. Together, we can deal more effectively with corruption, drug trafficking and other major crimes. Together, we will be able to better control migration; together we will be able to afford the increasing expenses necessary for research, particularly in scientific and medical research; and together we will be able to better protect our environment. We cannot go it alone, or we will not be able to better protect our culture, our language and our values.

In the modern history of the world, Europe has long occupied a political, economic and cultural center in the world. Since the mid-20th century, Europe has gradually given way to its central position in the world landscape. The advent of the euro has attracted widespread attention from the world media. The American assessment is that "Europe has made a comeback." The first euro members have always occupied a pivotal role in the world economy and international politics, and after the formation of the euro area, its gross domestic product will account for 23% of the world's total domestic product. 4%, roughly equivalent to the United States; gold foreign exchange reserves account for 20. 6%, while Japan accounted for 13. 8%, compared to 4. 1%; Exports account for 20% of the world, compared with 16% in the United States and 7% in Japan. Therefore, at the time of the birth of the euro, pundits generally predicted that the euro would have an impact on the dollar's supremacy in the world financial sector. Economist Lille Poulter pointed out: "The larger and more liquid the euro capital market, the lower its transaction fees, and the more attractive it is to market participants to use the euro in foreign exchange transactions." "The United States predicts that the huge financial benefits enjoyed by the dollar due to its dominance in the world's financial markets have brought huge economic benefits to the United States. If the euro replaces the dominance of the dollar, then this advantage will turn to Europe. The euro set a record for 1 euro on the first trading day1. It was high at $1815, but the euro has since fallen. By the end of 1999, it had fallen below the psychological defense line of parity between 1 euro and 1 us dollar, a decline of about 15%. On October 25, 2000, the exchange rate of the euro against the UNITED States dollar fell to a record low of 0. 8270 This shows that the euro has not beaten the dollar so easily in the near future.

However, both the Los Angeles Times and the International Herald Tribune argue that the value of the euro "will certainly exceed the simple monetary category" and that "a political union, the United States of Europe", will emerge after the launch of the euro. The "United States of Europe" was the concept of unifying Europe proposed by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II, and now, the birth of the euro heralds a major step towards the "United States of Europe" by the 300 million people of the euro area. It has been noted that the euro will form a "financial glue" among EU countries, and that eurozone countries will share their fate with the economic and political interests of the monetary union after giving up their monetary policy sovereignty. The euro connects the politics and economies of the participating countries, and European integration will never turn back. Italian President Ciampi believes that "the official circulation of the euro gives us great confidence and encouragement, and we have every reason to believe that the realization of real European integration is not far away".

The launch of the euro will eliminate the need for euro countries to pay acceptance fees for mutual exchange of currencies, which will greatly reduce the transaction costs of products within the euro area and enhance the competitiveness of enterprises in the international market. It is true that the development of the euro will also encounter difficulties and setbacks of one kind or another, but because it represents the direction of world economic development and expresses the common will of most Europeans, we have reason to believe that the euro will win a rainbow after experiencing wind and rain.