Euro Currency Does Not Make Any Economic Sense – Pressure Group

Since its very introduction, the existence of the single European currency has only made political sense but it has never been justified economically, the head of the UK-based think tank the Bruges Group told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A new poll conducted by ICM Research exclusively for Sputnik revealed on Tuesday that an average of 31 percent of French, German and Greek citizens would like to give up the euro and return to their former national currencies amid the current euro crisis.

"The different economic cycles that exist within the European Union have been exacerbated [since the introduction of euro]. Ultimately, the euro never actually made sense as an economic project, it was always a political project," Robert Oulds told Sputnik.

Oulds also called the introduction of a single European currency an experiment that has been "forced on people."

The euro was launched in January 1, 1999 but during the first three years of its existence it was only used for cashless payments. Since January 1, 2002 the euro has been circulating in notes and coins.

Euro is the official currency of the eurozone that comprises 19 of the 28 European Union's member states — Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. It is also used by the official institutions of the European Union as well as by several European microstates – Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican.