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The euro and colonialism

During my summer vacations1, I read Revolusi, David Van Reybrouck’s great book about the history of Indonesia, which might seem to be a long way from the subject of this blog, but he devotes three pages to the European Union and its origins, while three of its founding countries still had colonies. He highlights the… Poursuivre la lecture The euro and colonialism

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Cashless society, small change and protecting the environment

(Translation of this French blog article; comments and suggestions are welcome) I’m preparing a Euro coin watch summary article for the last few months, and two related announcements, in my view, are worth a special mention, as they concern the public policies of Estonia and Belgium aimed at encouraging people to use coins, or at… Poursuivre la lecture Cashless society, small change and protecting the environment

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Was the European Central Bank ensnared by birdwatchers?

(For the original French version of this blog entry, click here. All comments and suggestions to improve my English are welcome.) With apologies, it’s with considerable delay that I comment here on the news of the banknote changeover project in the euro zone. On November 30, 2023, the European Central Bank announced1 that it had… Poursuivre la lecture Was the European Central Bank ensnared by birdwatchers?

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Jacques Delors: death of the father of the euro

Jacques Delors died at the end of last year. Newspapers’ titles reminded his role in the creation of the euro currency. Here are several examples1: Delors first envisioned the Euro in a 1989 report now named for him — a revolutionary idea of multiple, independent countries with a single currency — and the continent adopted… Poursuivre la lecture Jacques Delors: death of the father of the euro

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A short critical assessment of the ECB survey on new themes for euro banknotes

Commentary on the press release From July 10 to August 31, the European Central Bank is organizing a “Survey on new themes for euro banknotes”.1 Everybody in the euro area can answer the survey. However, “In addition, to ensure opinions from across the euro area are equally represented, the ECB has contracted an independent research… Poursuivre la lecture A short critical assessment of the ECB survey on new themes for euro banknotes

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Gendering the European Central Bank

While researching on the representations of the so-called fathers of Europe, I read with great interest Anna van der Vleuten’s article, “Gendering the Institutions and Actors of the EU,” pp. 41-62 in the book Gendering the European Union. New Approaches to Old Democratic Deficits ed. by Gabriele Abels and Joyce Marie Mushaben (London, 2012 [2015]).… Poursuivre la lecture Gendering the European Central Bank

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The North-South connection in Brussels, a curious coin design for a controversial theme

(The author of this blog entry is not an English native speaker. Do not hesitate making suggestions or proposing language corrections. A French version is available here.) Belgium struck its first euro collection coin, with a face value of €10, in 2002. As a commemorative calendar issue, its theme is logical, but it is somewhat… Poursuivre la lecture The North-South connection in Brussels, a curious coin design for a controversial theme

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Belgian €2 commemorative coins: misogyny, international relations, good intentions and the Council glare, but not much heritage

(The author of this blog entry is not an English native speaker. Do not hesitate making suggestions or proposing language corrections. A French version is available here.) As the national sides of Belgian euro coins all show the portrait of the King, commemorative €2 coins are the only numismatic means of expressing original national features… Poursuivre la lecture Belgian €2 commemorative coins: misogyny, international relations, good intentions and the Council glare, but not much heritage

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