Newspaper Article

Europe Banking On Marriage of Money; Euro's Honeymoon Could Be Rocky

Swardson, Anne

1998

Overview

Dawn comes this weekend, when the leaders of Europe take the first concrete steps toward abandoning their national currencies in favor of one, the euro. The process will not be completed until 2002, but it will take on an irreversible nature beginning Saturday in Brussels. Eleven countries are expected to sign up on that day. In the process, its supporters hope, Europe will gain the economic -- and perhaps ultimately political -- dynamism it long has lacked. A trading power larger than the United States, Europe has played a far smaller role on the world stage than its Atlantic ally. The euro, it is hoped, will allow the continent to achieve global-power status commensurate with its demographic, industrial and creative powers. \"The movement toward the single currency is in many ways the most revolutionary step toward a united Europe since the founding of the European Community in the 1950s,\" said John Palmer, director of the European Policy Center in Brussels.

• Publisher: WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post
• Subject: Barre, Raymond / Euro / Monetary unions / Raymond Barre