Euro
Has the fourth euro entry test already been passed
UK - In all the coverage of Gordon Brown's Mansion House speech on Wednesday night, it went largely unnoticed that he had in effect declared that one of the five tests for euro entry had been passed. Friday's Financial Times picked up on the story.
ECB statistical press release
PRESS RELEASE - Monetary developments in the euro area, May 2002 released 27 June.
Does a floating currency buy flexibility?
RESEARCH - ECB WORKING PAPER by Marcel Fratzscher, June 2002"The Euro bloc, the Dollar bloc and the Yen bloc: how much monetary policy independence can exchange rate flexibility buy in an interdependent world?"(ECB Working Paper No. 154), (pdf 416 kB).
Euro goes to court over trade mark dispute
EUROPE - The European Commission will be forced to defend the design of the euro symbol in court today less than six months after the introduction of the single currency. The emblem has become the subject of a trademark battle with Thomas Cook and…
Interview - Luxembourg central bank's Yves Mersch
FEATURE - Luxembourg Central Bank governor Yves Mersch said the European Central Bank is awaiting hard evidence of an upturn in the euro zone's manufacturing sector before raising interest rates. In an interview with AFX News he also said the decision of…
Trichet says France wont balance budget by 2004
FRANCE - Jean-Claude Trichet, the governor of the Banque de France, suggested that it is unlikely that France will manage to clean up its budget deficit by 2004 when he agreed with finance minister Francis Mer's comments that to achieve this will take…
Eurozone inflation falls within ECB target of 2%
BELGIUM - Inflation in the euro zone slowed sharply to 2% in May, Eurostat confirmed on Tuesday. The drop put inflation within the upper limit of the European Central Bank's inflation target of 2%.
Quaden warns of Belgian budget deficit in 2003
BELGIUM - Guy Quaden, governor of the Belgian National Bank, has warned that Belgium may return to a budget deficit next year if the government eases spending controls to help it win elections: "In 2003, I will be very vigilant not only about inflation…
Speech Wim Duisenberg, ECB president, 13 June
SPEECH - In a speech on 'The euro as a catalyst for integration and competition in EMU', Wim Duisenberg talks about the link between European integration and the euro, explaining the need for further structural reforms and their importance for the smooth…
Eurozone inflation falls but M3 grows
GERMANY - A marked drop in euro zone inflation in May strengthened beliefs that the ECB will hold fire on interest rates, although its key money gauge M3 moved further away from its benchmark of 4.5%, growing to 7.5% from 7.3% in March.
Papademos to make ECB debut at Eurogroup as No.2
GERMANY - Incoming European Central Bank Vice President Lucas Papademos will make his debut as the bank's number two at the Eurogroup meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Luxembourg on Monday.
Speech by Sirkka Hamalainen of the ECB, 30 May
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'The role of the euro in global capital markets' Hamalainen described the euro as a global currency and said that the aim and goal of the Eurosystem should be to strengthen the integration and economic performance of the EU…
Eurozone current account moved to surplus in March
GERMANY - The euro zone had a current account surplus of 3.7 billion euros (3.4 billion dollars) in March, compared with a deficit of 600 million euros a year earlier, data published by the European Central Bank on Wednesday showed.
European Central Bank Publication
REPORT - The Eurosystem's terms of reference for the use of cash- recycling machines by credit institutions and other euro area institutions engaged in the sorting and distribution of banknotes to the public as a professional activity, 24 May.
Bank of England News release, 27 May
NEWS RELEASE - Practical Issues Arising from the Euro - May 2002.
Sweden 'not ready' for euro - Report
SWEDEN - Sweden is not yet ready to join the euro because its currency is too unstable and the central bank not independent enough from the government, the European Commission has said.
Poll says most Germans want rid of euro
GERMANY - A UK newspaper reports that the party is over for the euro in Germany. A majority of the country which more than any other embraced the concept and birth of the single currency now longs for the return of the Deutschmark it is claimed.
The single monetary policy in the euro area
REPORT - ECB publication, General documentation on Eurosystem monetary policy instruments and procedures, 26 April, (update of the November 2000 edition).
Interview with Robert Mundell
FEATURE - One hundred days after the introduction of the euro Robert Pringle spoke with its self-styled "godfather" and Nobel Prize winner Robert Mundell in an exclusive interview for the latest edition of Central Banking journal.
Speech by Wim Duisenberg, ECB President, 8 May
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'What are the political consequences of the euro?' Duisenberg said that money is one of the most powerful symbols of a common identity and it is now shared by the 12 European countries of the eurozone.
Coin collectors feeling short-changed in Ireland
IRELAND - Coin collectors seeking Irish euro coins have run into difficulties obtaining the new currency from the Central Bank.
Noyer - euro upside not just due to dollar value
GERMANY - European Central Bank vice president Christian Noyer said the overvaluation of the US dollar on the currency markets is not the only reason why he is confident about the euro's upside potential.
Duisenberg - ECB wants supervision structure role
GERMANY - European Central Bank president Wim Duisenberg said the ECB wants to play a key role in any move to increase cooperation between central banks and other financial sector supervisory authorities in the euro zone. He also spoke on Le Pen's threat…
Dollar slides after O'Neill testimony
US - Pessimism about the strength of the US recovery sent the dollar to its weakest level for six months against the euro and for two months against the yen on Thursday.