Making and Managing the Euro: France and Germany in the Birth and Life of Europe’s Single Currency

The case describes the roles played by the French and German governments and the Franco-German relationship in shaping the evolution of European monetary cooperation and integration over the last four decades, Against the background of the Greek debt crisis, it highlights the divergent stances of Paris and Berlin on issues of monetary and fiscal policy in the Eurozone.

The case provides a basis for discussing and analyzing the historical role of France and Germany in the European integration process, the roots of European monetary cooperation, how the euro came to be created, the divergent approaches to monetary and fiscal policy in the Eurozone and to what extent these may influence the euro's future following the global financial crisis of 2008-09 and the fiscal crisis that this provoked in some Eurozone member states.