BIS Review 105/1998  –2–  For the goal is not merely to ensure that the euro is stable at the beginning. The goal is to ensure that the euro remains stable over the long term. And in the long term it is highly probable that the euro will need a stronger political underpinning.
II It is gratifying that the financial markets already seem to have largely accepted the euro. At any rate, the euro has passed its first test. The markets apparently have confidence in the preannounced exchange rates. So far there have been no marked tensions between the exchange rates of the future participating currencies. And the euro has already begun to show the first benefits.