ABSTRACT
Academic analyses of the significance of the euro have focused largely on economic and political issues relating to the wealth, power and interests of different states and social groups. What has been quite absent are analyses of a more cultural kind that examine the euro’s potential role in eroding national identities and fostering a more pan-European identity. The neglect of this issue is surprising given its prominence in public discussion in Europe. Opponents of the euro, for example, have argued that the abandonment of national currencies will ‘dilute’ their national identity.2 Its supporters, though less frequently, have also recognised that the exchange of national currencies for the euro may ‘feel almost like a change of identity’ (European Commission 1995:49). Similarly, researchers have found that attitudes of some Europeans towards the euro are influenced by their concerns about its implications for national identities (Meier and Kirchler 1998).
