Such changes in the European financial scene have significantly improved the efficiency of capital allocation. The euro contributes to enabling European savers to easily select the most efficient investments. It also helps the productive sector and companies to achieve significant economies of scale, enhances the transparency of the market and boosts competition and innovation to the benefit of consumers. Moreover, the pace of internationalisation of the euro area economy has been further spurred by the euro. Allow me to give just one example, the level of French accumulated foreign direct investment abroad since 1999 has been of the order of magnitude of EUR 380 billion (a pace four times as rapidly as before the setting-up of the euro, and the same order of magnitude as the United States’ FDI abroad). The international role of the euro The euro has become a major currency in the world. As an official reserve currency, it is the second most widely used. As a bond issuance currency, according to the most recent statistics from the BIS, the euro has played a substantial role since the end of 1998 and accounted for around 35% of total issuance in 2001. The share of the euro in international bank assets has also increased significantly over the past two years. Furthermore, the euro constitutes a major reference currency for exchange rate regimes adopted by third countries. Over 50 countries in the world, mainly in Europe and Africa, are managing exchange rate arrangements that include a reference to the euro.
This is a unique and highly symbolic event for Europe. As regard France, the early changeover of non-cash payments in 2001, and the rapid introduction of banknotes and coins in euro in early 2002, proved to be a success and entirely in line with the scenarios devised in consultation with all the involved parties (the banking sector, cash-in-transit companies, the Police and the Army, retailers and the general public). In France, almost 70% of non-cash payments were in euro at the end of December 2001. Since 1 January, all transactions have been conducted in euro, and no major incidents came to light, thanks to the early use of non-cash payments by the general public throughout the second half of 2001. This was also a key factor in the rapid acceptance of the banknotes and coins by the public. Similar success has been witnessed in all European countries, thanks to national efforts and the co-ordination by the European Commission and the Eurosystem; a month and a half after the  introduction of euro banknotes and coins, more than 95% of cash transactions in the euro area are now being carried out in euro. Although the practical changeover to the euro might be considered as an outstanding achievement, we should nevertheless remain vigilant on the following issues: ·  First, price stability. Although some increases in prices of a certain number of consumer goods have been reported, it is likely that, overall, the effect on price stability will be marginal.