The ECB's success in maintaining price stability has certainly provided - and continues to provide - a crucial foundation for these efforts, by stabilising inflation expectations and instilling a "stability consensus" across Europe. In this sense, the euro is one factor which is continuing to push euro area economies towards more balanced budgets and greater competitiveness.
Another important aspect of the transformation of the European economy that has been stimulated by the advent of the single currency is the increasing financial integration within the euro area. Indeed, from the start, the prospect of deeper, wider and more integrated financial markets was among the most widely expected benefits of a common currency.