EU’s Juncker SAVAGED over Euro fawning: ‘Low growth, instability and political discord’

Europe’s single currency turned 20 after launching on January 1, 1999, and has played a key role in the European Union’s policy ever since – as the centrepiece of the daily lives of 340 million people across 19 countries. The EU’s most senior officials celebrated the euro as a bastion of “stability and prosperity” across the bloc as the European Central Bank continues to operate as a powerhouse of monetary policy. Mr Juncker, the European Commission president, and the last top-rank EU official still serving after signing the Maastricht treaty that created the basis for a single currency, during his time as prime minister of Luxembourg.

Celebrating the anniversary, he said: “Twenty years on, I am convinced that this was the most important signature I ever made.

“The euro has become a symbol of unity, sovereignty and stability.”

Mario Draghi, the Italian president of the ECB, also hailed the single currency as a “necessary consequence of the single market”.

But the 2008 financial crisis, which left severely damaged the euro, and the Greek debt crisis of 2010 has left a sour taste in the mouth of some experts, many of whom believe the faltering currency will one day completely collapse.

Richard Wellings, deputy research director at the free-market think-tank the Institute of economic affairs, said: “The euro has become a symbol of the EU’s economic malaise and internal divisions.

“The EU elite put the drive towards ever-closer union above the interests of citizens.

“One size fits all doesn’t work and the best policy now would be an orderly break up of the Eurozone.”

Steve Keen, a professor of economics at Kingston University, said: “The Euro has brought low growth, economic instability, and political discord to Europe.

“Yet Europe’s unaccountable leaders spin it as an unbridled positive, at a time when ordinary citizens of Europe are donning Yellow Vests and bemoaning their plight.”

Pieter Cleppe, of the think-tank Open Europe, believes also believes the euro could one day collapse with national currencies being the preferred options.

He said: “That’s not to say national currencies are ideal but as least the evil governments manipulating money to fund spending is more decentralised.

“The central bank of Greece would have never managed to burden citizens with so much debt without the euro. The ideal: private currencies.

“Will the euro collapse? I think so, at one point.

“In Japan, people may be ready to sacrifice a percent of pensions for Japan. But, that’s not likely to fly in euroland.”

The Centre for Economic and Business Research said in its annual predictions for 2019 “internal contradictions” would force the Eurozone to “integrate economically” or “risk breaking up”.

They added: “It is possible to defer the confrontation for a year or two but the boil will have to be lanced at some point since the Italians have clearly reached the point of austerity fatigue.”

The euro faces a number of challenges in 2019, including Brexit, potential trade wars with the United States and China.

A trade war would hit Germany the hardest, which is the Eurozone’s largest and most export-dependent economy.

Europe’s largest economy saw Inflation rise by 1.7 percent in the year-on-year in December, compared to 2.2 percent recorded in the previous month.

Florian Hense, economist at Berenberg Bank, said: “The economic fundamentals look encouraging.”

“Having said that, we cannot rule out two major risks. First, politics may go badly wrong.

“Think trade, Brexit, Italy.

“Second, even if the big risks that are currently scaring companies and households fade over the course of 2019, the fear factor may take on a life of its own for a while.”