Jürgen Stark: The role of the euro in the world - past developments and future perspectives  Speech by Dr Juergen Stark, Deputy President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, at the Joint Bundesbank/BIS conference on “Recent developments in financial systems and the challenges for economic policy”, held in Frankfurt, 28-29 September 2000. * I.
*  *  Introduction  Great expectations were attached to the international role of the euro, especially by politicians. However, a currency’s international importance is primarily determined by international financial markets. It depends on the policies pursued in the currency area and on the amount of confidence which financial market players have in the currency.