The euro(€) is the official and
common currency of the eurozone, constituted by 18
of the 28 member states of the EU: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.
The Maastricht treaty (1992)
indicated the steps that had to be followed to create a single currency, and
fixed the conditions that the states had to fulfil in order to adopt it.
The euro was launched in 1999 (not
physically, just for accounting purposes) and began to circulate in the shape
of bills and coins in 2002 but, why was the euro created? It was mainly
introduced to stabilize the market by eliminating exchange rates, price
fluctuation and interest rates, as well as to improve economic and monetary co-operation
between the EU countries. It was also made to strengthen the European single market
by facilitating free trade across borders and stimulating the movement of
capital, goods and people.
The euro makes the market more
transparent, more effective and less risky. It makes people able to compare
prices and identify the best one without difficulties, which encourages them to
invest in other countries and creates competition in business. As a consequence,
companies have to reduce price differentials. This makes the economy more
efficient and overall stable and as the economy grows, consumers have more options.
In spite of all the benefits of the euro, nowadays a crisis is affecting a lot of countries in the eurozone. Its causes are really various and there are different theses about them: from one hand there is the waste of money that has lead to an increase of the national debt and from the other hand there is the speculation and the not optimum management of the euro and the crisis.
Now Judge for yourself:
IS THE EURO A BENEFICIAL THING FOR
THE ECONOMY?
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