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The introduction of the euro as a currency in physical existence in January 2002 was a major step in the European integration process. The purpose of this paper is to explore how a representative selection of 12 000 Europeans across all countries in the euro area view the effects of the euro five years after its introduction. The empirical analysis uses multinomial logistic regressions to explore the
responses to two questions from the Flash Eurobarometer survey conducted in September 2006. The first question asked if the adoption of the euro was advantageous overall or not. The second one asked if using the euro had made you personally feel a little more European than before or not.
At the aggregate country level, close to a majority perceived the euro as advantageous overall, while about a fifth of the respondents replied that their European identity was strengthened by the euro. At the disaggregated level two major findings emerge. First, there are substantial differences across member states in the euro area with respect to the perceived effects of the introduction of the euro.
Second, by means of a set of statistical tests we find significant differences across individual sociodemographic
groups within the euro-area countries. Men are more positive towards the single currency than women. More men than women also feel more European since the introduction of the euro.
Attitudes towards the euro and the feeling of being European are positively related to the respondents’ level of education. Age, occupation and locality also have a bearing.
Those who view the euro as advantageous overall stress that it has made it less costly to travel and easier to compare prices. Those who regard the euro as disadvantageous overall do so on the basis of the argument that it has caused prices to increase. Attitudes towards the euro appear to be primarily based on the daily experience of shopping and travelling, not on considerations of growth and employment.
Our individual-level findings are consistent with those of earlier studies concerning determinants of public attitudes towards the single currency and European economic integration. However, it remains a formidable task to explain, using economic and political theory, the wide differences in public attitudes towards the effects of the euro within and across euro-area countries.
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