Euro protects integrity of EU Single Market: ECB chief

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The euro has safeguarded the integrity of the Single Market, which is the engine for sustainable growth, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) said Tuesday.

"The euro is the most tangible representation of European integration that our citizens encounter, on a daily basis," Mario Draghi told to the European Parliament session for the 20th anniversary of the euro in Strasbourg, France.

The currency has fostered people's confidence and their savings by producing two decades of price stability in countries, he said.

He stressed that challenges, which are mostly global, can be addressed with togetherness.

"It is precisely in this sense that the single currency has given to all members of the euro area their monetary policy sovereignty, compared with the pre-existing monetary arrangements," he added.

Antonio Tajani, the president of the European Parliament, said 340 million EU citizens use the euro, which is the world's second most important currency.

Stressing the euro made EU's internal market transparent and competitive, he noted transactions, movement, trade and tourism were facilitated due to the euro.

"During the economic crisis, thanks in part to the ECB’s quantitative easing, the common currency acted as a shield, preventing the collapse of Europe’s weakest economies," he said.

The euro, launched Jan. 1, 1991, is used in several EU and non-EU countries as the second most-used currency worldwide.