Welcome to EMU@10!

It is ten years since the decision was taken to go ahead with a single currency for Europe, the euro. On 1 January 2009, the euro will be ten years old. Like the process of European integration as a whole, Economic and Monetary Union was a simultaneously visionary yet pragmatic project. A major step towards fulfilling the ideal of an 'ever closer union' among the peoples of Europe, it was achieved through close coordination and convergence of economic policies, and careful technical preparations among the EU countries.