At that time, the euro will probably also be easily accepted for payments in Swiss border regions and tourist areas. As final advantage, the single currency greatly enhances market transparency and stimulates competition. On the one hand, Swiss importers can now directly compare euro denominated offers from different countries. On the other hand, exporters can less easily differentiate prices according to the market destination of their products. In the long run, transparency will promote efficiency for EU-members and non-members. The almost daily news about mergers and acquisitions in Europe is an expression of the ongoing fight for a favorable position on the unified European market. 2. Extraordinary stability of the Swiss franc/euro exchange rate in the past ...  After these remarks on the general consequences of the euro for Switzerland, let us now turn to the more specific, but nonetheless central, question of the exchange rate between the Swiss franc and the 1  BIS Review 17/2000  euro. As already mentioned, the exchange rate between the Swiss franc and the euro is of crucial importance to the Swiss economy. So far, the relation between the two currencies has been remarkably stable. Since the introduction of the single currency, the Swiss franc/euro exchange rate has fluctuated in an extremely narrow band of only 2%. Thus, exchange rate volatility has until now been even lower than the 8% volatility observable between the Swiss franc and the Deutsche mark during the three years preceding the monetary unification.
Mr Roth remarks on the euro and Swiss franc: two sister currencies? Speech by Mr Jean-Pierre Roth, Vice-Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the Swiss Business Association Annual General Meeting, Singapore, 24 February 2000. *  *  *  For more than a year now, the euro has been a reality. It has crowned a decade long process of monetary integration in Europe. The introduction of a common currency in eleven closely related, but independent countries is an unique experiment. It is still too early to assess all the far-reaching implications of this monetary revolution. Therefore, the thoughts and remarks I am going to express today can only be intermediate and provisional. 1. Consequences of the euro for the Swiss economy  Switzerland is not part of the Monetary Union. It is nonetheless deeply integrated in its European environment through its geographic situation and its strong historical, cultural and economic links with Europe. Over 50% of our exports go to countries of the euro-zone, while 70% of our imports come from there. But, besides that, Switzerland has strong traditional links overseas, too. The US, Canada and Japan account for 10% of our imports and 15% of our exports while emerging markets represent 4% and 10% respectively. Although concentrated on Europe, our foreign trade is geographically more diversified worldwide than that of other small open European economies such as Austria, the Netherlands or Belgium.