Deep seated as my criticisms are of the dithering and lack of imagination and vision over at the ECB, the situation would not be improved by giving national governments more say. I have only one response then to M de Vil-lepin: hands off.
“Mr de Villepin suggests the 12 finance ministers of the eurozone should open [...]

The credit rating agency Standard and Poors yesterday cut Portugal’s long-term sovereign debt rating from AA to AA-. The downgrade isn’t exactly earthshattering, but it is a sign of the times.
“The downgrade is the result of the reported sharp deterioration in public finances . . . and the depth of fiscal reform required to reverse [...]

New Economist has a useful post one the euro and the reform process. He picks up on the point that as much as interest rate cuts, what the eurozone needs are the Lisbon Reforms. He also points to the fact that having cheap money in the southern part of Europe may be impeding and not [...]

Or a real possibility: the euro at 1:1 with the dollar? The FT today cites one trader who thinks it a definite possibility. Of course, they also often quote others who hold a contrary opinion. So why do I pick up on this one? Because even though I don’t have access to the technical and [...]

The Italian Northern League have, as promised, launched their ‘bring back the Lira’ referendum campaign. Whilst at this stage there is something vaguely comic in all this, remember it is a wild card which will be floating around if Italy’s economic crisis worsens.
The Italian Northern League party launched a campaign to revive the lira at [...]

Well I’ve been reading about the Germans, the Italians, now apparently it is the turn of the French to feel naustalgic:
“Three out of five French people miss their old currency, replaced by the euro in 2002, a survey for Valeurs Actuelles magazine showed on Wednesday. In February 2002 that figure was just 39 percent.
While the [...]

The euro is now currently (11.38 CET) at $1.2045.
Update: Ah, now I’ve found the reason for todays move:
The euro fell to a nine-month low against the dollar after European Central Bank Chief Economist Otmar Issing spurred speculation the bank may reduce interest rates for the first time since 2003.
Asked in an interview with Germany’s Der [...]

Interesting to note, following our discussion of the state of play of the Hungarian economy, that Hungary’s finance minister is not a euro pessimist. Janos Veres said in an interview with the Financial Times that he did not foresee a wider crisis for the single currency and that Hungary had ‘no option’ but to continue [...]

The Lituanian parliament is to debate a motion which proposes holding a referendum on euro membership. Lithuania is scheduled to join the euro in 2007. The Prague Daily Monitor also has an article which draws attention to the growing ‘euro’ scepticism in the Czech republic.
“The Lithuanian parliament will vote on whether or not to hold [...]

EurActiv is an extremely useful source of information and analysis (much better eg that EU Observer or Eupolitix, for example). Today they have an interesting survey of the recent debate about the efficacy of the euro. They also have a link to a recent report which seems interesting.
“The rejection of the Constitution by two of [...]