There are benefits and costs involved with the establishment of the euro, as the case is with any economic reform. The costs or the risks are not obvious for the moment. They will be revealed in the long run. Let us first look back upon history. It gives us valuable lessons about the workings of monetary unions.
History shows that lasting monetary unions have been created following political unification.
The EMU is a different story. Never before in history has a group of independent nations given the power of framing monetary policy to an independent entity like the European Central Bank, the ECB, while still maintaining control over all major aspects of economic policy making, like taxation, government expenditures and fiscal policies. Great Britain opted to pass on the euro and hold on to the pound sterling, in use since the 13th century. Experience tells us that experiments involve risks as well as rewards. Let us list a few.