Former national currencies, such as the French franc and the German Mark are no longer autonomous currencies, but subdivisions of the euro. Euro banknotes and coins will only be introduced in 2002. The voluntary transfer of monetary sovereignty from the national to the European level is unique in history. However, it should not be seen as a single, isolated event.
The introduction of the euro is part of the process of European integration. This process started shortly after the second World War and has now been under way for more than half a century. The aims of European integration are not only, or even primarily, economic.