Twenty years ago, the French and Europeans discovered the euro, the new single currency. A currency rejected by some, such as the Netherlands, or popular with other states, such as Bulgaria, which hopes to switch to the euro by 2024.
In the Netherlands, the euro zone arouses the suspicion of some Dutch
Twenty years after its introduction, part of the Dutch reject the euro. At least, there are still people nostalgic for the old national currency, the florin. In any case, this is what several Dutch dailies reported in recent days, including the newspaper from the east of the country, By Gelderlander, who went to meet citizens in whom the mere mention of the word florin brings up a lot of emotions. There are passionate collectors, or even an owner of an old jukebox that only lights up by inserting florins. In the newspaper, some elderly people still ensure that their purchases are converted into this currency… This nostalgia would be very real: according to the Dutch Central Bank, the Dutch still keep nearly 26 million guilder banknotes at home. And last month, surfing on this regret for the pre-euro, the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt, the French equivalent of the Paris Mint, reissued collector guilder coins in gold and silver. But the paradox, according to several Dutch economists and a European study dating from 2019, is that in fact, the Netherlands is after Germany one of the countries in Europe to have benefited the most from the euro. .
This demand exists on the political scene. Thus, a few years ago, the extreme right of Geert Wilders, in particular, still mentioned it. During the legislative campaign of 2017, for example, by way of leaflet, supporters of Wilders distributed to passers-by fake guilder banknotes bearing the effigy of their leader. Since then, the demand has been more discreet and this option seems less and less realistic. Except that in the Netherlands there is still mistrust of the euro zone. Thus, in 2020, at the start of the health crisis, a serious dispute opposed the Minister of Finance Wopke Hoekstra and the countries of the south, France included. He then accused them of mismanaging their budgets and, between the lines, of living on the hooks of the Dutch. And while some expected a new pro-European Union government, it is this same Wopke Hoekstra who should ultimately be the next foreign minister.
Bulgaria hopes to switch to the euro by 2024
The euro zone has continued to expand and Bulgaria, the poorest country in the Union, is moving forward in the process of adopting the European currency. The country hopes to switch to the euro by 2024. Why so rush? The answer is not very clear. Former Prime Minister Boïko Borissov, who launched the process, spoke of deeper European integration. The Borissov government thus hoped to gain political profit from the adoption of the euro, seen as the privilege of the rich countries. The economists’ argument is that joining the euro zone will stabilize the Bulgarian banking system and somehow immunize the banks against bankruptcy. One of the biggest banks in the country went bankrupt in 2014, following a rivalry between two influential oligarchs. This bankruptcy profoundly shook national finances.
The Bulgarians are however far from being convinced: 66% think that the country is not ready to adopt the euro, 77% fear a surge in prices. Experts’ opinions differ: some say there will certainly be an increase in prices, but that “consumers will reject high prices”. It remains to be seen how? Critics, for their part, fear a considerable slowdown in economic growth and a surge in public debt. Another argument is that it has been 25 years since Bulgaria lost its monetary sovereignty, adopting a fixed exchange rate following a period of hyperinflation in 1997. The value of the Bulgarian lev, the currency unit of Bulgaria since 1881 , was first linked to that of the deutsche mark, then to that of the euro in 1999. One euro is worth almost two Bulgarian levs, and this value will be maintained with the introduction of the single European currency. The euro is also already present in the Bulgarian economy: the rental or purchase prices of real estate are calculated in euros and many Bulgarians prefer to save in euros. At a purely technical level, Bulgaria fulfills the membership criteria: applicants for membership of the euro zone must comply with a series of economic indicators, such as price stability or levels of public deficit. Bulgaria and Croatia are part of the European exchange rate mechanism in 2020, which is seen as the antechamber to the euro area.