EUobserver.com: Euro Lacking single voice abroad Brussels says - by Lucia Kubosova

For the complete report from the EUobserver.com click on this linkEuro area lacking single voice abroad, Brussels says - by Lucia Kubosova

In a review of ten years of the euro, the European Commission argues the single currency has often suffered from political attacks in countries where it is used, as well as from lacking sufficient weight on the world stage, which Brussels suggests the 16-member to be eurozone could overcome with a single chair at international financial institutions

In a report adopted by the EU executive on Wednesday, Brussels highlighted the key economic achievements of the euro area, such as "sustained price stability," a fall in average interest rates from nine to five percent, better fiscal policies and creation of 16 million jobs since 1999. But economic growth has on average been around two percent per year since the introduction of the single currency, broadly the same rate as in the 10 preceding years, the paper acknowledged.