The European Union can trace its history to the end of World War Two, when Europe was left devastated by factors such as whole cities ending up left in ruins, individual economies were beyond struggling, and, worst of all, millions of lives were lost. The state of the continent motivated several European leaders to seek more unity as a means to preserve peace on the continent; one of the ideas that was floated around as early as the 1960s was a single currency. However, the treaty that actually brought this idea to life is the Maastricht Treaty signed in 1992, which, among other things, expanded the powers of the European Parliament but also laid the foundations for a monetary union, which eventually led to January 1st 1999, the date when the euro started being used by hundreds of millions of European citizens. Since then, the Euro has expanded in continental and global significance, with more and more EU members adopting it. Bulgaria is the latest to do so, adopting the currency in January 2026, and so with its expansion, questions are asked, such as, is the euro worthwhile? Is it really a better choice for European countries than having a national currency? These are questions worth asking and worth writing articles answering.
The Euro makes doing business easier
Put simply, before the euro was adopted, trade and commerce between one European country and another were much harder for several reasons. One such reason was conversion rates, since national currencies were worth different amounts, thus importing and exporting from one country to another cost both businesses and national governments preventable expenses, infact data shows that businesses save €20-25 Billion per year due to the euro preventing conversion costs. On top of businesses saving on conversion fees, the stability that the euro provided in this front has also resulted in more investments in the long term, which benefits national governments and creates a more business friendly environment across the EU, which helps Europe stay competitive in several aspects on the global stage. It’s also worth mentioning that the euro has also resulted in easier access to suppliers and an easier base for European businesses to expand into new markets. These conclusions have more backing, such is shown in the increased ease of cross EU trade leading to trillions of it every year (4 trillion in 2024).
How the Euro benefits Europeans
While the euro does benefit businesses, does it benefit me as an EU citizen? Is a question that might be asked at this point, and it is a valid one, especially with the blame the euro gets for allegedly “raising prices”; however, despite the latter, the answer is yes, it absolutely benefits Europeans.
First, it’s worth mentioning how the lack of conversion fees also helps the wider population. This is true because it benefits people who are studying, going on holiday to, or working in, or retiring in, another EU country. This is because it avoids having to make sure you’re converting currencies at a trusted location that does not charge an absurdly high service fee and thus avoids unnecessary hesitation when it comes to cross EU travel.
The wider population also benefits from the euro due to the increase in competition and ease of online shopping it provides. Indeed, with the euro, a business from one EU country can more easily expand into new markets; this factor also benefits the average EU citizen. However, since it increases competition between businesses, it’s the golden rule here that increased competition gives said competitors a motive to keep their prices as cheap as possible, which means that more competition benefits the consumer most. And last but not least, as already mentioned, with one currency, it’s easier for a consumer to make purchases online from other EU countries, both because one doesn’t have to calculate how much they’d be charged in their currency and because it makes the shipment process easier.
It’s better for tackling internal economic instability and for increased global influence.
When moving to the Geopolitical consequences of the euro, the use of a single currency has proved beneficial to European affairs both internally and externally. Internally, the use of a single currency makes it easier to control things such as inflation across the EU, thus making it easier to protect the economic stability of countries across the continent. This is because when countries have debt crises and/or when inflation rises, the euro makes it easier to stabilize long term, both because since it’s shared, it incentivizes EU members to work together and because the Euro is a strong currency with 20% of globally allocated reserves as of Q1 in 2024.
Meanwhile, internationally, factors already mentioned (a strong currency and the incentive to cooperate) are also crucial factors. This is because the euro’s strong stance in foreign reserves gives the EU (and thus Europe and Europeans) a strong influencing role in global economic affairs, and in addition, the incentive to cooperate helps both to maintain peace and to make sure the EU is more than just a regional power. However, even apart from these two factors, it’s worth mentioning that the euro makes the EU a more attractive option to even foreign investors, who value more integrated markets.
conclusion
In conclusion, while the euro has been through its ups and downs, and while you’ll find those who argue against it, rest assured that if you are ever in such a debate, the points in favour of the euro are not at all weak or insignificant. From making the EU more relevant on the global stage to making it easier to go on holiday, although it’s not perfect (yet), the euro’s benefits are wide and concrete, with said benefits serving not just the Eurozone countries geopolitically or businesses across the EU and the world but also the general European population. Through everything, the euro’s history has proven that Europeans can indeed work together towards a freer and better future, and as Angela Merkel once said, “The euro is our common fate, and Europe is our common future.”
