Current criticism often tends to blame the euro for problems which have very little to do with it, such as labour market rigidities, overstretched social security systems, a fiscal system not ready to cope with population ageing and many other things. It is unlikely that these problems would have been solved had the euro not been created.
Indeed, the introduction of the euro may be forcing governments to confront structural problems which they had previously ignored. Moreover, the euro has shielded many euro area countries from significant exchange rate volatility and financial market  6  BIS Review 25/2004  turmoil in the face of the many adverse shocks that have occurred over recent years, including geopolitical tensions.