The Euro coin and Schengen

This Euro coin looks recently as an annoyance to Europeans. Not because it is not convenient, but because they think that it destroyed their life savings and welfare. Well it is not the currency, it is the politics.

Twenty years ago, as Europeans were traveling from country to country were annoyed by two things: having to stop often at the border for customs and identity controls and mostly for having to exchange money.The latter was annoying for several reasons. Currency exchange services were adding additional costs to everyone's pocket. This unnecessary expense didn't make a lot of sense. Europe has historically used a "single" currency several times and for very long periods. European citizens were aware of that and understood that it would be better to transact with a common currency.

European politicians on the other hand had only a similar view. They thought that a common currency would unite the Europeans, but they forgot that long periods of a single currency were viable in a common European economic and political system; being called "Roman Empire" and imposed by force, matters not much on the currency use and value. I 'm not claiming that a political and fiscal union should be imposed by force in the EU. But ignoring that a currency cannot function when sovereign states can do "whatever they like to" was a major flaw in the Euro introduction.

On the other hand the younger generation of European citizens should pause lamenting on the "good old days" when the Deutsche Mark, the French Franc and the Italian Lira (sometime called Liretta...) would "buy more for less". They should rather think what they can do, to help politicians understand what their role is.

As about Schengen border controls, I have only one wish for the twenty-something generation of 2011. I wish they won't ever need to go back to the past and sustain restrictions in travel, settlement and ethnic origin.

P.S. This article was not meant to be entirely complete. It was written intentionally as a thought-provoking one.