More than 20 years following the launch of the single currency, the euro has become the second most important currency in the world. Recent shifts in global political and economic powers have pushed the Union to try and identify ways that promote a more diversified and multipolar system of several global currencies. Reflecting the euro area’s economic and financial weight, a more diversified system of global currencies would make the international economy more resilient to shocks.

To this end, in December 2018 the European Commission published its communication “Towards a stronger international role of the euro”, outlining the work streams to increase trust, usage, and attractiveness of the euro at international level. Complementing the communication, the Commission launched a series of consultations in 2019 with the goal of gathering feedback from a variety of sectors and actors to better understand the mechanisms which underpin the use of the single currency. Comprehensive set of initiatives was outlined, including the following aspects:

• Completion of the Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union;
• Banking Union and CMU measures to foster a deep European financial sector;
• Initiatives to support EU financial markets infrastructures as well as to strengthen the EU sanctions regime;
• Promoting the use of the euro in key strategic sectors.

Deutsche Börse Group has warmly welcomed the vision set out in the Commission’s guidelines and notably the goal to establish EU27 as a competitive and prospering economic area supported by financial markets built on principles of stability, transparency, and fairness. As part of our contribution, we identified different avenues of strengthening the international role of euro: directly, by increasing the trust and attractiveness of the currency itself; and indirectly, by supporting products and services denominated in Euro as well as the Eurozone’s financial ecosystem.

Increasing trust in euro will require the aforementioned reform of the Eurozone with regard to the Economic and Monetary Union, completing the Banking Union, as well as bringing the CMU to life. In addition, based on a “fit-for-purpose” regulatory framework, market-led solutions can make a critical key contribution by providing for a virtual symbiosis between stability and growth enhancement. Thus, boosting the use of the euro in key strategic sectors, such as for example commodity markets, and making progress in securing systemically important euro-denominated markets will contribute significantly to making the EU more resilient to shocks and ensuring its competitiveness.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the recovery fund and the Recovery Resilience Facility which entered into force in February 2021 will increase the supply of safe assets denominated in euro and help strengthen the resilience and the sovereignty of the Eurozone and ultimately the international role of the joint currency.

For further information on Deutsche Börse Group’s positioning on the matter, find our statements and position papers under Publications.