Die Einführung des Euro

The Euro takes over far more than the monetary functions of the old national currencies. It creates a new collective consciousness. For the first time, the future European Federal State penetrates noticeably the everyday life of its citizens in terms of coins and notes. So far the European Union has been a distant bureaucracy that was mostly criticized by citizens and mass media alike. However, with any payment made in the future the Euro will literally show citizens that they live rather in Europe than in one of the receding national states. Yet the new presence of Europe in the public consciousness will be complemented by unpleasant topics. A uniform currency fosters an economic integration in which weaker regions will suffer losses. The monetary unification will therefore be joined by a unification of demands: Disadvantaged countries will demand redistribution at the European level. Therefore, critics of the monetary union have repeatedly claimed that the Euro will not unite Europeans but divide them in the end. It is argued that the opposite will be the case: The Euro will turn out to be the most efficient accelerator for building European institutions. Therefore, the real significance of the Euro does not lie in the standardization of monetary functions. Its impact can rather be found on a political level: in the expansion of the European citizenship. The Euro will, gradually but definitely, redirect the public attention to Brussels, Europe’s capital city.