Euro Adoption Quotes

I can confirm that Poland should become a eurozone country, and not just because of the treaties that have been signed, but because I consider it of strategic interest both for Poland and the E.U.

I was sure we would never see the adoption of the Euro. Countries giving up their currencies for a common tender was, it seemed to me, completely out of tune with currency being a carrier of people's cultural identity, celebrating national heroes and events, as it had been for hundreds of years.

I am sure the euro will oblige us to introduce a new set of economic policy instruments. It is politically impossible to propose that now. But some day there will be a crisis and new instruments will be created.

In reality, the euro is a currency created by Germany for Germany. It’s a suit that only fits Germany.

You could see how money is different all of a sudden in Italy when they had the lire and now they have the euro. So they, in a revolutionary way, have gone from bad money to good money comparatively. But what about the rest of the world?

It seems like cloud cuckoo land... If anyone is suggesting that I would go to Parliament and suggest the abolition of the pound sterling — no! ... We have made it quite clear that we will not have a single currency imposed on us.

Germans tend to forget now that the euro was largely a Franco-German creation. No country has benefited more from the euro than Germany, both politically and economically. Therefore what has happened as a result of the introduction of the euro is largely Germany's its responsibility.

The euro will raise the citizens' awareness of their belonging to one Europe more than any other integration step to date.

I have never said I would adopt the euro. Not today, not tomorrow, not in five years. We will introduce the euro when it will benefit Poles and Poland.

Our future begins on January 1 1999. The euro is Europe's key to the 21st century. The era of solo national fiscal and economic policy is over.

We already have a federation. The 11, soon to be 12, member States adopting the euro have already given up part of their sovereignty, monetary sovereignty, and formed a monetary union, and that is the first step towards a federation.

Our position in Europe is not negotiable. The Greek people will defend it by all means. But participation in the euro involves rules and obligations, which we must consistently meet. Greece belongs to Europe and Europe cannot be envisaged without Greece.

Some countries that are close to Europe that already hold Deutschemarks, clearly would automatically hold euros, those are countries in Eastern Europe mainly, a few countries in Africa.

The designs of the paper euros, introduced in 2002, proclaim a utopian aspiration. Gone are the colorful bills of particular nations, featuring pictures of national heroes of statecraft, culture and the arts, pictures celebrating unique national narratives. With the euro, 16 nations have said goodbye to all that.

The euro is a vital issue for Germany. There is no other country that derives as much benefit from the common domestic market and the monetary union as Germany.

Leave the euro? Surely yes.

Cyprus joined the E.U. in 2004 and immediately wanted to get into the euro area for the express purpose of completing, as quickly as possible, the union with the core of Europe. It was done because the public thought that would be beneficial for political reasons, not economic reasons.

The Greek people do not want to exit the euro. And I believe the Greek people already have shown that they have made major sacrifices to stay in the euro zone.

I can understand countries don't want to join the euro, but they cannot impede the consolidation and strengthening of the eurozone.

Europe is one thing. The euro is something else.

A national currency, with the Euro as a common currency - that wouldn't bother me.

It is obvious that the monetary union among 17 very different European countries does not work. As an economist, I know that the Eurozone is not an optimum currency area, as defined in economic theory.

Indeed, the creators of the euro envisioned it as an instrument to promote political union.

I think there are going to be more countries joining the euro.

The 1992 crisis proved that the existing system was unstable. Not moving forward to the euro would have set up Europe for even more disruptive crises.