The leaders of the European Union's 15 member states, meeting in Dublin last weekend for the concluding European Council summit of the Irish Presidency, succeeded in making decisive progress on preparations for the final stage of Economic and Monetary Union and on intergovernmental negotiations to revamp the EU's founding treaties. The single currency has become more visible than ever. All technical preparations are now politically agreed.
All guarantees are now in place to make the Euro one of the strongest currencies in the world.
The single currency is a palpable reality. The Dublin summit also identified a broad range of measures to be implemented at national and EU level aimed at boosting employment and combating organized crime. EMU will enter its third and final phase on January 1, 1999. It also agreed on the legal framework for the use of the future single currency, the Euro. The European Council also welcomed the designs for Euro bank notes presented by the European Monetary Institute, and welcomed the European Commission's arrangement of a design competition for the Euro coins in the first half of 1997.