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1/13/07

globeandmail.com: France leads backlash against euro, monetary union


For the complete report in the globeandmail.com click on this link

France leads backlash against euro, monetary union

Whatever honeymoon the euro may have enjoyed in France, it's over. With elections looming, France is leading a backlash against Europe's eight-year-old monetary union and the hard currency that has crowned it since Jan. 1, 2002. Five years after the euro-themed New Year parties, opposition to the currency is hardening in many European Union member states. The common currency is increasingly blamed for a range of economic woes -- from weak exports to the offshoring of jobs. Taking their cue from the 2005 referendum in which French voters torpedoed the EU's draft constitution, French politicians of all stripes are now training their periscopes on the European Central Bank and its French president, Jean-Claude Trichet, in the final months before French presidential and legislative polls.

The European Union's own survey found that public support for the euro declined over the 12 months to September in nine of the 12 countries that rolled out euro notes and coins in 2002. The 13th member of the euro zone, Slovenia, began using the currency Jan 1. Their main complaint: The ECB is too independent. "It should no longer be up to Mr. Trichet to command the future of our economies, but rather up to leaders designated by the peoples of Europe," Ségolène Royal, the opposition Socialists' presidential candidate, said last month.

The ECB and its defenders are fighting back.The day after Ms. Royal's comments, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that "it's thanks to the strength of the euro that our energy prices are bearable and our interest rates at historic lows -- the necessary conditions for growth." One euro 1 € is presently worth US$ 1.29. Note EU-Digest: "populist political statements against the EU and the euro by European politicians show how inward looking and self serving their vision is. It does not represent much hope for the future of Europe."

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