Abstract
The introduction of the euro made it possible to reliably institutionalize
economic co-operation between the European Union member states to the
extent which goes beyond monetary policy. As a result, it also contained
the political conflict within the economic policy and increased international
reliability of the Union’s mechanism that creates the essence of monetary
policy. Consequently, we can observe a process of a slow but constant rise
of the international role of the euro even under the global financial crisis.
These unfavourable conditions, however, revealed a significant sensitivity of
institutional participants of international money markets causing a slow-down
in the increase in the reserves held in the euro in comparison to the reserves
denominated in the U.S. dollar.