The Euro at Ten: Performance and Challenges for the Next Decade

The publication analyses the performance and achievement of the Euro during its first ten years, and includes a special report on the European Central Bank (ECB) from Otmar Issing, one of the key architects and former chief economist of the ECB.

As well as reviewing the success of the Euro and its financial stability so far, the publication explores the challenges that the next ten years are likely to pose for the Euro, ECB and Euro-zone policymakers. Five key challenges are identified for the next decade:

• The inflation target, and its requisite downward pressure on domestic prices, could pose the risk of an extended period of sub-standard growth.
• The expansion of the Euro-zone into more of Scandinavia and Central Europe and the potential impact on the inflation dynamics of the European Monetary Union.
• The question of whether the European system of central banks will be able to act as a lender of the last resort in a future period of financial instability.
• The ECB’s monetary policy in the face of a historically privileged Euro.
• The decision of whether to merge the political powers of the various international bodies of the Euro-zone, including the G7 and International Monetary Fund.
  
  >> The Euro at Ten: Performance and Challenges for the Next Decade, June, 2008 [PDF, 3 MB]